In the wake of Hurricane Joaquin, where devastation spread throughout the central and southern Bahamas, the Water and Sewerage Corporation (WSC) is going above and beyond to not only repair the water systems but to also install improved systems in these islands.

Last week the WSC hurricane team gave updates to the public, via Juan McCartney’s, daily radio show ‘The Revolution’, about water restoration in the affected islands.  Cyprian Gibson, Assistant General Manager and Head of Family Island Operations and Keith Beneby, Senior Engineer at WSC, appeared on the show and answered questions from callers regarding the Corporation’s relief efforts as well as local callers’ queries.

During the show the WSC team revealed that they were able to restore water services in the central and southern Bahamas, as well as provide potable water for residents of those islands within 48 hours of the all-clear being given and they were able to restore services in the other islands within three days to one week. 

“Teams were on the ground immediately on all of the most affected islands and most systems were restored within record time due to the sacrifices of our staff, the support of our head office and NEMA,” said Gibson. “The national system was utilised as planned, and was quite effective, given the circumstances.”

In addition to restoring the water services, WSC has suspended its usual charges of $100 per load of tankered water for residences until further notice and in Crooked Island a water tanker truck is being shipped to the island to obtain desalinated water from the Royal Bahamas Defence Force facility at Landrail Point and to transport it free of charge to residents. 

Additionally, an international donor has offered a desalination plant and standby generator to the Corporation at Colonel Hill, Crooked Island and Chesters/Lovely Bay, Acklins.  The logistics of these projects are being finalised and work will commence shortly.

“I am very pleased with the corporate response of WSC,” noted Gibson, “It was clear that the investment in disaster preparedness clearly paid off.  Despite the hurricane having developed fairly quickly, WSC’s level of preparedness and response was quite impressive.  Staff made the necessary preparations at both the corporate as well as at the personal/household levels and as such teams from all divisions were ready to assist immediately once the ‘all clear’ was given by the Met Office.”

The Corporation is also extremely proud that their staff came to the aid of their fellow colleagues.  Immediately following the storm the WSC Hurricane Relief Care Team was formed to assist WSC colleagues who were affected by the storm. Their donations were then matched by the Corporation to help make a bigger impact. The money collected was used to purchase water, groceries, toiletries, coolers, bins, portable stoves, butane gas, flashlights, batteries and bleach.  The Corporation also provided additional assistance for its employees who had residential damage.

The Corporation is continuing to do all they can in these islands as it pertains to potable water. To get up-to-date information on the Water and Sewerage Corporation please like our Facebook page.