Efforts by the Government to achieve universal access to potable water by 2010 yesterday received a boost with the launch of the European Union (EU)-funded National Water Commission (NWC) Institutional Strengthening Project.
The launch of the project comes nine months after the Government signed an agreement with the European Commission for 1.1 million euros (J$90 million) to improve the NWC's operational capacity and financial performance for the provision of water supply services to customers.
"The overall objective of the institutional strengthening project is to contribute to poverty alleviation through improvement of access and provision of essential service," Fenton Ferguson, Minister of State in the Ministry of Housing, Water, Transport, and Works, said. He was addressing journalists at a press briefing held at the NWC's corporate head office on Barbados Avenue, New Kingston.
The areas of focus will be: reduction and control of unaccounted for water; establishment of manuals and procedures for operation and maintenance; implementation of a management plan for the NWC's assets; establishment of a management plan for the supply of water in rural areas in the context of community involvement; and implementation of a system of benchmarking for the operation of the utility.
Jacques Stakenborg, head of contracts and finance, EU delegation in Jamaica, said the project is for 20 months (July 2006 to February 2008) and is divided into two phases.
