The Tribune

By NATARIO MCKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

THE Water & Sewerage Corporation (WSC) needs $106m to upgrade its supply and distributions systems in the Family Islands, a senior corporation executive has revealed.

Speaking at the inaugural Long Island Business Outlook this week, WSC assistant general manager Philip Beneby - who heads the corporation’s Family Islands division - said it was facing challenges with regards to water supply and distribution in the Family Islands, noting that there are only three islands in the archipelago with sustainable water supplies. According to Mr Beneby, WSC operates some 60 water supply and distribution systems throughout the Family Islands.

“There are challenges in the Family Islands - it is nothing new,” Mr Beneby said. “Due to the archipelagic makeup of the country we have these challenges with water. We need $106m to fix the Family Islands, to provide a state-of-the-art or even a reasonable level of service.”

An area of particular concern in the Family Islands according to Mr Beneby was waste water treatment. “The waste water treatment plants are lacking in the Family Islands. That is something from the environmental standpoint that I am concerned about.

“We use deep disposable wells or just the private septic tanks but it’s not environmentally friendly. Sewerage is a very expensive component and that requires about five times the amount of capital water does in terms of fitting out the Family Islands,” said Mr Beneby, adding that there were opportunities for public-private partnerships.

Another challenge facing the corporation according to Mr Beneby were its tariffs, which have remained unchanged for nearly two decades. “Another big challenge for us is tariffs. There has been no tariff increase since 1999. This calls for an act of Parliament. Successive governments have not addressed this issue so we are stuck with our current rate,” said Mr Beneby.

“BEC can pass on fuel charges to its consumer but we can’t as a matter of law. We can only bill you on what you use. BEC is billing you on what you use as well as fluctuations in the market in terms of energy costs. That’s one of the problems,” said Mr Beneby.