ELEUTHERA, BAHAMAS: The Corporation is pleased to announce the commissioning of the Russell Island Water Supply Project that included the installation of over 7,000 feet of 4-inch and 3,000 feet of 2-inch PVC water mains to serve over 100 homes on the island at a cost of approximately $600,000 utilizing the Corporation’s personnel and equipment in conjunction with various local subcontractors. Russell Island is rapidly expanding and the Corporation appreciates the importance of the provision of high quality piped potable water to sustain the development of the island.
Under the ministerial leadership of The Hon. Alfred Sears, KC, MP and its Board, led by Hon. Sylvanus Petty, MP, the Corporation’s Management has been charged with the urgent task of the development and implementation of an Action Plan to improve the reliability of the Corporation’s supply to all existing customers across the country, and to extend piped potable water supply to all remaining homes and businesses without a supply at the earliest possible opportunity.
With respect to Eleuthera specifically, this Action Plan to date includes: –

1. The Corporation has contracted over $6,250,000 in storage tank works for Eleuthera. This includes: –
   A. Refurbishment of the existing 365,000 imperial gallon storage tank on Spanish Wells.
   B. 1,500,000 imperial gallons in new potable water storage tanks for the Bogue and another 1,500,000 imperial gallons for the Naval Base. These works have commenced in phases and will be fully completed by this summer.
   C. 500,000 imperial gallons in new potable water storage tanks for Harbour Island. This Contract was recently awarded and we are awaiting the Contractor’s timeline.
2. Working closely with our Desalination Contractor to improve the reliability of all of our desalination plants on Eleuthera and to expand the desalination production capacity at both our Bogue and Naval Base facilities. Two (2) desalination plants with a combined capacity of approximately 260,000 imperial gallons per day have arrived in New Providence and are presently being cleared. It is expected that these units will be shipped to our Naval Base facility shortly and will be fully operational by late April 2023 increasing the overall production capacity of that plant from the present 450,000 imperial gallons per day to 710,000 imperial gallons per day. At the Bogue, the plan is to increase the production capacity from 600,000 imperial gallons per day to 800,000 imperial gallons per day and we are awaiting the Contractor’s formal timeline on those works. These desalination improvement works are valued at several million dollars.
3. The Corporation in conjunction with the Ministry of Finance is presently negotiating with the Caribbean Development Bank for a Bahamas Water Supply Project Phase II Loan in the range of $25,000,000 to $30,000,000. It is estimated that between $5,000,000 to $10,000,000 of this amount will be dedicated to improving critical water transmission and distribution mains across Eleuthera.
4. The Corporation is working with our utility partner, the Bahamas Power and Light Company Limited (BPL) and our Ministry – the Ministry of Works & Utilities to address the power supply/demand issues at our desalination facilities and this includes ongoing discussions to introduce alternative energy supply solutions for these plants.

As recently announced by Minister Sears, the Government is determined to position “WSC on the path to becoming a world class water and sanitation utility that meets and exceeds customer expectations, is financially viable and operates in full compliance with all environmental and regulatory standards”. The Corporation has accepted this challenge and we are working to improve the level of our service to all customers across Eleuthera and The Bahamas.