Government to provide 10,000 water tanks to needy households
Published:Thursday | March 16, 2023 | 9:05 PM
The Government will be providing 10,000 black water tanks to needy households across Jamaica, starting in fiscal year 2023/24.
Prime Minister Andrew Holness outlined details of the undertaking in his 2023/24 Budget Debate presentation in the House of Representatives today.
He said focus will initially be placed on areas adversely affected by drought.
“Households on the Programme for Advancement Through Health and Education (PATH), households recommended by Members of Parliament (MPs) and assessed by the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation will qualify for the tanks, according to the rules of the programme,” the Prime Minister informed.
He indicated that all tanks issued will be placed on the National Geographic Information System (GIS) database, which will provide valuable information about household storage capacity and how to plan for the delivery of water to the beneficiary households.
Holness said there will be a parallel project to assist households to convert the tanks, where possible, into rainwater harvesting systems.
“The HEART-NSTA Trust will be tasked with developing a national service corps of trainee plumbers and future water engineers to install these tanks and convert them into rainwater harvesting systems. This will be a five-year programme with the objective that every water-vulnerable household must have storage and rainwater capabilities to withstand drought and water service disruption,” the Prime Minister said.
From this five-year project, Holness told the House that, “we will get 50,000 tanks to households across Jamaica.”
He informed that early in the new fiscal year, a Ministry Paper on 'Guidelines for Rainwater Harvesting' will be tabled.
The Prime Minister said this will support town planning efforts “as we mainstream and eventually move to make mandatory, the practice of rainwater harvesting in driving water resilience.”
Holness further disclosed that the Water Resources Authority has completed Jamaica's Water Resources Master Plan, which he will be tabling in Parliament in the new fiscal year.
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