General Manager of the Dominica Water and Sewerage Company Limited (DOWASCO), Bernard Ettinoffe has announced that the company is nearing the physical implementation phase of the water sector strategic development project which has been in the making for quite some time.
This, he said, forms part of DOWASCO’s major priorities for 2025.
“We are nearing now the actual physical implementation works,” he said while speaking on State-Owned Radio DBS. “We have ordered the pipes and fittings necessary for sub-projects, that is in Castle Bruce, Calibishie, Morne Rachette, Grand Savanne, Salisbury, Grand Fond, Morne Jaune, Rivière Cyrique.”
According to Ettinoffe, DOWASCO has signed the contract with the pipe supplier and the first payment has been made to them, “and we can expect to begin receiving pipes by the end of January 2025.”
“We have finalized negotiations with the consultant, have overseen the implementation of the physical works to build those new systems,” he explained. “That contract is complete and should be signed hopefully this week, and so the consultant will be in place from January.”
Furthermore, he stated that DOWASCO is putting together teams to begin execution of, “the running of the pipes, the building of the intakes…”
“Some of those works will be subcontracted and we will be inviting contractors to tender to implement those works very early in 2025,” Ettinoffe stated.
He mentioned that all of these works are expected to be completed in 2026.
He said the Ministry of Finance has been supporting DOWASCO in accessing funds through the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), “and so we are very pleased that is now starting off in earnest.”
Meanwhile, he revealed that DOWASCO has an ongoing project in the Paix Bouche area.
“That is going steadily, it’s on course to be completed within 2 or 3 months’ time.,” he said. “And our Water Area 1 project that started several years ago should be completed by the end of March 2025.”
Etinoffe added, “Very few things left to be done there, among those things is connecting the new intake to the existing one and completing the filtration process and so forth. And so, we will see a more reliable supply from that system as well…”
The Water Area 1 system which serves from Mero, Castle Comfort, St Aroment, to Kings Hill among other areas, explained Ettinoffe, will benefit tremendously from that upgrade.
If you are the manager, with filtration systems outside of Roseau in that state, I do see why you’d need a chairman appointee imposed on you from one of the Caribbean’s desert area, the VI’s. Not even Antigua. Hence we’re paying for water like the VI’s, thru the nose. I think I can sell your company an igloo in the middle of Roseau on a hot sunny afternoon.
you guys couldn’t organize a pissup in a brewery 😊
In Dominica HEALTHCARE is third-class, EDUCATION is substandard, roads suffer from pothole disease, electricity is unstable, politics is tribal, employment is meagre, salaries & wages are miniscule, corruption is widespread, NCDs are prevalent. These make living degrading.
Having said that, the water situation is the worst. Everyday water supply is interrupted somewhere in Dominica. It’s the worst service of ALL. The GM should be replaced with dispatch. He is the epitome of incompetence.
Dominica 4 u….nothing is planned properly in my land…dowasco is owned by the government and the government override every thing the board can recomend….how can a board recomend such huge increases for Dominican? are u all real?