DOWASCO GM says climate change a challenge to Dominica’s water supply programme

General Manager of Dominica Water and Sewerage Company (DOWASCO), Bernard Ettinoffe has said that 98% of the island’s water coverage has been restored since Hurricane Maria.

He spoke at a World Water Day exhibition at Windsor park fore court on March 22nd, 2019.

Etinoffe said providing water to all Dominicans becomes very challenging as this is a country which is affected by climate change.

“Dominica has long embraced the policy to provide water for 100% of the population and was on course to doing so prior to Tropical Storm Erika in 2015 which dealt a severe blow to our infrastructure. We again made significant progress after TS Erika and was again on course at the time of Hurricane Maria which dealt even a more devastating blow than the storm of 2015,” he said. “We are pleased to report however, that in spite of these challenges Dominica can again boast of 98% coverage, island wide.”

He said extreme events, environmental degradation, population growth and unsustainable agricultural practices, are also among the challenges that result in water interruptions and water scarcity even in countries with an abundance water.

Meantime, Public Relations Officer of DOWASCO, Edward Registe said they are collaborating with the Forestry Division on an ongoing project of planting one million trees island wide for the preservation of Dominica’s water resources.

“Hurricane Maria dealt us a serious blow and it depleted the forest quite a bit and so it is necessary for us to re-plant the forest because if we allow the massive operation that we have right now, it could impact our fresh water resources and so we are happy to collaborate with the forestry department in their effort to plant a million trees across the country.” he said

Registe also stated that because of major improvements done to Dominica’s water system over the past years, Dominica now meets World Health Organization (WHO) standards in providing access and treated water to all communities.

He said Dominican citizens need to ensure that this continues so future generations can have access to potable water.

This year DOWASCO will be celebrating it’s 30th anniversary in July.

Copyright 2012 Dominica News Online, DURAVISION INC. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or distributed.

Disclaimer: The comments posted do not necessarily reflect the views of DominicaNewsOnline.com and its parent company or any individual staff member. All comments are posted subject to approval by DominicaNewsOnline.com. We never censor based on political or ideological points of view, but we do try to maintain a sensible balance between free speech and responsible moderating.

We will delete comments that:

  • contain any material which violates or infringes the rights of any person, are defamatory or harassing or are purely ad hominem attacks
  • a reasonable person would consider abusive or profane
  • contain material which violates or encourages others to violate any applicable law
  • promote prejudice or prejudicial hatred of any kind
  • refer to people arrested or charged with a crime as though they had been found guilty
  • contain links to "chain letters", pornographic or obscene movies or graphic images
  • are off-topic and/or excessively long

See our full comment/user policy/agreement.

13 Comments

  1. River Enthusiast
    March 29, 2019

    Congratulations to ALL who contributed in the observation of World Water Day (March 22). I am obliged to say it was a good effort.
    “WORLD RIVERS DAY” carded for the last Sunday in September, as designated by the United Nations is six (6) months away (Sept. 29). Since little or no mention was made about our Rivers during World Water Week, let us all begin the discussion and planning for “World Rivers Day 2019”.

  2. Mouche miel.
    March 27, 2019

    Ate enough what will happen when China takes over our water resources as per the MOU Dr.Dr signed a few yrs ago? Read about Zambia. I have classmates who returned home in the late 90’s they are now returning in droves with many seriously similar modus operandi to what’s taking place in DA today.

  3. ??????
    March 27, 2019

    How are you going to provide water to all those 5* hotels when you can not give water to your own people?

  4. Annon
    March 27, 2019

    And that is why you drill wells DOWASCO.

    • %
      March 27, 2019

      Anus U seem to be an expert in all areas. Why Drx2 alias Kaka Doc hasn’t set his eyes on someone like you.

      The answer is not blowing in the wind. Dr Dr likes fronts, ,skirts certainly not how I renamed you. LMAO if u respond U are a poof.

      • %
        March 28, 2019

        Duhh ,,what is tat brain fart? :?:

      • Fr One % to another
        March 29, 2019

        Maybe AhfouahU Fart/phat depending on which % is dispensing. LMAO real loud False%

  5. shrewd
    March 26, 2019

    DOWASCO don’t you think this phase ” Climate Change” have been overused and misused? when will you stop this nonsense and build sufficient storage tanks? you are a monopoly, have absolutely no competition so stop making excuses, its 2019, we are not in the sixties.

  6. Without shower
    March 26, 2019

    Does Salisbury belong to the 2% left ? It seems so.
    Every day is the UNKNOWN ! Are we going to have water today or not? Guess what the right answer is? NO
    And don’t think that Dowasco lets us know in advance. Would be too easy !!
    We are so resilient that some of us haven’t got water for 2 weeks!
    They should get a winning award.
    DOWASCO you are so not ready!!

  7. concerned
    March 26, 2019

    You all need to focus on the dredging of the rivers. Thats one of the biggest problem there. In the future all will dry up if they continue with that dredging

  8. Onlooker
    March 26, 2019

    Mr Ettinoffe, Have we received the money from Prince Charles? I remembered he pledged money to rebuild a more resilient water system. Any update on this?

  9. zandoli
    March 26, 2019

    I take issue with a couple of statements made by Mr. Ettinoffe. Firstly he cannot attribute population growth to any challenges facing Dowasco. There has been no population grow to talk about in Dominica in the past couple decades. Secondly, when he speaks about 98% water coverage, having pipes with no water running is not effective coverage. A pipe without running water is as good as useless (at least at the time you want water).

    I was in DA last month and running water was like the Scarlet Pimpernel. I am used to not pay any attention to my tap because whenever I open it, out comes water. In Dominica it was a different story. I don’t remember ever appreciating water coming out of a tap as I did in Dominica.

    So when Mr. Ettinoffe talks about coverage, he should qualify that.

  10. Neville
    March 26, 2019

    Ettinoffe, you and your company are a failure! One and a half year after Maria you drum your chest and tell us that 98% has been restored. In my book this is nothing to be proud about in fact I would classify it as a massive failure. Furthermore, I bet if I was to have a closer look into this 98% I’m sure I would find that the true figure is probably more like 85%. But mediocrity is rife in DA and anything more than zero is quite acceptable. OMG

Post a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

:) :-D :wink: :( 8-O :lol: :-| :cry: 8) :-? :-P :-x :?: :oops: :twisted: :mrgreen: more »

 characters available