REMARKS BY:

 THE MINISTER OF PUBLIC WORKS

THE HON. CRAIG CANNONIER JP, MP

ON: STRATEGY FOR SUSTAINABLE WATER AND WASTEWATER SERVICING FOR  ST. GEORGE'S PARISH

22nd JUNE 2016

Good afternoon,

Today I am here to offer some good news to the residents of St. George's Parish, regarding an issue that has been a long time coming for many.

The Ministry of Public Works has recently begun a study to formulate a strategy for sustainable water and wastewater servicing for St. George's Parish. The study will define existing constraints and capacities, consider and evaluate alternatives and identify preferred water and wastewater servicing options. The methodology will follow a process similar to the Master Planning process of the Municipal Engineers Association of Ontario, Canada.

The project involves an information review of the current water supply and sewage systems in St. George’s Parish, to establish appropriate policies in order to:

• Offer options for management of service delivery;

• Identify the infrastructure investment required to deliver a sustainable service for the plan period (of 25 years) and

• Complete a financial analysis of the current and proposed service delivery systems.

The Ministry of Public Works, Department of Works and Engineering, has partnered with award winning consultants Associated Engineering (International) Ltd. for this project and will be seeking feedback from various stakeholder groups in order to formulate the strategy for sustainable water and wastewater servicing in St George's Parish. These groups include but are not limited to: the Corporation of St. George,  the Department of Health, the Department of Environment and Natural Resourses, the Tourism Authority, the Department of Planning, the Bermuda Land Development Company Limited, the Water Truckers' Association, private developers and hotel owners as well as the general public and residents of St. George's.

The government wishes to ensure that anyone with an interest in this study has an opportunity to be involved and to provide input. Information will be made available through a Project Website and upcoming Public Information Centers (PIC’s).

Opportunities for input will be made available through the project website via an online survey and a project email address. The online survey is also available on the Government portal. The project email address is stgeorgewwwplan@gov.bm (all one word lowercase). The Public Information Centers will take place at key points during the study to present updates to the public and gather further feedback. Representatives from the Government will be present at the PICs to field general questions with regard to the project.

In short, St. George's Parish requires a strategy for its water and wastewater management and servicing as the current practices are not sustainable. The Parish currently has piecemeal services to limited areas providing potable water, sanitary flushing water, sewage collection and salt water fire hydrant mains. An area of such cultural and economic importance to Bermuda must have commensurate water and wastewater servicing.

This Project will lay the groundwork for a National water strategy.  Our long term aim is the provision of a robust and reliable water and wastewater service to all islanders and visitors, in a way that will allow Bermuda to be recognized as a leader in sustainability.