The Water and Sewerage Corporation (WSC) will be investing over $200 million in new infrastructure over the next several years throughout The Bahamas to become more climate resilient, according to General Manager Robert Deal.
Speaking at the sidelines of the recent Disaster Risk Management Agency Conference at Baha Mar, Mr. Deal noted that WSC is undergoing the largest national water and sanitation infrastructure capital works programme in the history of the Corporation.
“For us resilience and building resilience cannot be a buzz word that we use when we attend conferences or workshops. It’s a way of life and a way of doing things. It means that all our infrastructure that we now install must be designed and constructed to be able to withstand future catastrophic events. We pray that those events do not happen, but if they do, our systems must be able to withstand them,” he said.
“That includes making sure that all of our new above ground infrastructure is properly elevated and that we don’t build infrastructure in low lying flood prone zones. Our tanks must be designed and constructed to withstand 200 miles per hour winds when empty. Our water mains are laid to proper depths particularly those that are laid along coastal roads and that they are laid on the opposite side of the road, where they are properly buried and protected. We are also focusing on our buildings to ensure that they can withstand very strong hurricanes because within these buildings we have vital electrical and mechanical equipment that must be safeguarded.
“Everything we do now going forward whether it is financed by the Inter-Amercian Development
Bank (IDB), the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) or the Green Climate Fund (GCF) – all of
these agencies insist, and we fully support, that climate resiliency must be an essential part of the
design and construction of our infrastructure.”
Mr. Deal said that up to $30 million has been invested in Abaco alone post Hurricane Dorian,
which ravaged the island in 2019.
“We had two types of major damage arising from Dorian. One type occurred during the storm and
unfortunately, we also experienced some damage post hurricane, particularly the debris clean up
phase. From an infrastructure perspective, our storage tank in Treasure Cay was totally destroyed,
the storage tank in Marsh Harbour was heavily damaged and the tank in Grand Cay also sustained
significant damage,” he said.
“Our operational buildings in Marsh Harbour were heavily flooded, and the well fields were as
well. We had a lot of water mains that were damaged by tree uprooting and then following the
storm, we had some damage where some of the road clearing works damaged some of our water
service laterals and customers’ meters that caused leaks. We also had buildings that suffered roof
damage and so it was a major issue for the Corporation to address.”
The Corporation also received donor funding for the solarization works that were done at the
Marsh Harbour wellfields and pumping station estimated between $3 million and $5 million.
But the works didn’t stop there. WSC has also invested millions into improving infrastructure on
other islands.
“Beyond Abaco, we have invested tens of millions of dollars across other islands. We have
invested quite a bit of money in Eleuthera with respect to new storage tank works on Harbour
Island, the Bogue and the Naval Base and in improvements of existing storage that are ready for
these events – larger tanks that have substantially increased storage capacity so that they can have
water in place during and after storm events,” he said.
Mr. Deal noted that caring for staff during a hurricane is also a top priority for the Corporation.
“During a disaster, our team members can be impacted severely. They may suffer personal injury
to themselves or other family members or damage to their homes and belongings. We know when
someone goes through this type of trauma, they are focused on their family, their personal health
and rebuilding their homes, therefore we have to ensure that they have the necessary psychological
care. He highlighted that both the Corporation and staff work together during these times to raise
donations to help our team members in need. The Corporation also focuses on cross training to
have staff who can be quickly deployed post storm to help with the recovery efforts,” he said.
Mr. Deal said even though a lot of work has been done, there is still more to complete in building
resiliency across the Corporation.
“There are always more improvements to be done. When a storm hits, we want our infrastructure
to be as resilient as possible so that we can rapidly restore water and sanitation services to our
customers,” he said.
