St Kitts Desalination Plant to be handed over within weeks: PM Drew

St. Kitts and Nevis: The desalination plant is expected to be handed over in next few weeks as its testing is also nearing completion. Speaking during a press conference, PM Dr. Terrance Drew said that the progress on the plant is amazing and it will produce up to 2M gallons of portable water daily, supplying 60 to 70% of the population with 24/7 water.

Speaking on the water issues, PM Drew highlighted several projects that are coming into the country to resolve the scarcity of the water in St Kitts and Nevis. He said that they have started the process of drilling wells in the areas including Saddles, St Paul’s, Sandy Point and then it will go to other parts of the country.

“We want three sources of water as much as we can: desalination, surface runoff, wells and water harvesting.” He also announced that work on a factory to make water tanks and gutters from PVC will start soon in the Cayon area.

The factory is aimed at providing at least 25% permanent jobs initially and it will also allow the country to produce water tanks locally so people can harvest water. “A country cannot flourish without water as it is more basic than land itself and if you have land without water, nobody will settle there.”

PM Drew added, “We are lifting the standard of living, the health and the living conditions of our people. Despite all these challenges, we are heading in the right direction.”

On the housing sector, PM Drew announced that the houses are being built in St. Peter’s, Gillards, Ottleys, West Coast, Newton Ground and Sandy Point. He said that the poor-quality housing is being replaced with proper high-rise urban housing that people can be proud of.

He said that they are also building units of housing in New Town so that all constituencies will be touched and touched multiple times.

About geothermal, PM Drew mentioned that they are close to finalizing geothermal in Nevis and they are also moving forward with a solar plant. The full assessment has been completed and request for proposals will go out within a couple of weeks.