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Ladies and gentlemen,
Today marks the start of an extraordinary new chapter for Cat Island.
With the signing of this Heads of Agreement (HOA) with Consolidated Water, we set in motion the design, construction, and operation of two desalination facilities in Cat Island – one at New Bight in the South, and the other at Bennett’s Harbour in the North.
This agreement is a much-welcomed extension of the infrastructural upgrades I initiated as Minister of Works and Utilities in 2016 to extend water supplies on New Providence and several family islands. In Cat Island, three million dollars worth of funding from the Caribbean Development Bank was put toward the installation of eleven miles of new water mains and about three hundred service connections.
Now, after four years of stagnancy during the previous administration, this government is continuing water upgrades through the ongoing Cat Island Road Paving and Public Infrastructure Public Private Partnership (PPP) Project. Already, we have allocated over $32 million to install 95 miles of new water mains and 800 service connections in Cat Island.
I am pleased to share that these works are well underway, with final completion slated for early 2026. I am even more pleased to note that this PPP project is the largest single water supply project on any Family Island in the history of the Corporation.
We mean business, my friends. For all our islands.
Following the signing of this agreement, we anticipate the New Bight facility will commence water production by April 2025, and the Bennett’s Harbour site, pending environmental review, by September 2025.
With two new desalination plants, in tandem with the infrastructural expansions being executed through the PPP project, over 1,100 homes and businesses across Cat Island will receive high-quality, desalinated, piped potable water for the first time.
Cat Island’s water supply issues will soon evaporate.
This signing comes on the heels of several other multi-million-dollar investments throughout our Family Islands.
We made big promises for Family Island development, and we are delivering on those promises.
These latest works form part of a wider $190 million-plus capital works programme, which will finally set right our nation’s public water and sanitation infrastructure.
In addition, we are renovating and expanding 14 airports in our Family Islands. We are paving hundreds and hundreds of miles of roads, investing in energy and water solutions, and improving healthcare through renovations of Family Island clinics.
This infrastructural development will be critical as we drive billions in private sector developments throughout our archipelago, unlocking the economic potential in each of our Family Islands.
On behalf of the Government of The Bahamas, I extend my heartfelt thanks to the Executive Chairman, Board, Management and Staff of the Water and Sewerage Corporation for their tireless efforts in this regard.
I also thank our partners at Consolidated Water for uniting with us to realise a more equitable future for Cat Island.
Thank you.