Rural Water Supply Ltd. hands over water harvesting system to Springfield Primary & Infant School
SPRINGFIELD, St, Elizabeth: The Rural Water Supply Limited (RWSL) has handed over a water harvesting system to the Springfield Primary and Infant School in St. Elizbeth.
The project began last year at a cost of approximately J$5.5 million. It includes the installation of five tanks- two 1,000-gallon; two 800-gallon tanks; and a 15,000-gallon concrete tank.
“We are not just working in communities, but we are in schools, and it is good to know that the introduction of water harvesting in this school will allow a consistent stream of attendance by the students,” said Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Honourable Desmond McKenzie.
“Water harvesting has been a feature of the Ministry since 2016 and RWSL coming into the Ministry has strengthened the capacity of the Ministry to deliver.”
The RWSL, which is an agency of the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, is an important component of the Government’s response to communities across Jamaica with limited access to adequate potable water.
“They have lifted the standard in terms of service delivery, and I am looking forward to working with them right across Jamaica to take projects such as this and many more to communities across the country that are in need of water,” he stated.
The Springfield Primary and Infant School Water Harvesting Project will benefit some 164 students and staff.
Mayor of Black River, Councillor Derrick Sangster, welcomed the project.
“What the Rural Water Supply Limited has done is to make it possible that this institution will always have available to them a collection of clean potable water, so that the health of the children here can be protected, and they will all be able to exist in a clean and healthy environment.”
The RWSL is completing a rainwater harvesting system at the Barbary Hall Primary School as well as implementing the Maybole minor water system which includes solar pumping facilities.
Water projects undertaken by RWSL in St Elizabeth in recent times include Top Reading, Burnt Savannah, Park Mountain pipeline extension to the Primary School. It is also collaborating with the National Water Commission on the pipeline installation in Middle Quarters as well as the Whitehall /New Market water system.
Additionally, designs are underway for the Government of Jamaica/Caribbean Development Bank for the Union/Balaclava water system.
