By Spokesman Newsroom
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts (Thursday 23rd March 2023)- Minister of Public Infrastructure and Utilities Konris Maynard has addressed the “act now” priority for the government in addressing water supply and storage challenges. “…we must act now to preserve the future and survivability of our generations yet to come.
It is easy to take water for granted until most of us-not just some-turn the tap and nothing comes out. By then it would be too late. As such we cannot allow another 46 years to pass before decisive action is taken,” he remarked as part of his statement at the United Nations Water Conference at the UN Headquarters in New York City on Thursday 23rd March 2023.“It is our hope that a committee to the water action agenda will lead to accelerated implementation of the Water Action Decade 2018 to 2028 the 2030 agenda and its sustainable development goals,” he added.
According to Minister Maynard, “St. Kitts and Nevis has never been daunted by immense challenges. In fact we are prepared to leverage our small size as an advantage.” He went on to say: “St. Kitts and Nevis is small enough to do what we must, to be the best example of sustainability that the world has to offer, which is consistent with our vision to create a model Sustainable Small Island State.
Therefore, St. Kitts and Nevis commits to aggressively implementing pro-active and adaptive measures that will build capacity and resilience, guided by the principles of Integrated Water Resource Management,” said the Minister.
“Important for us is the water-energy-food nexus as we strive to return to 24-hour access to water by 2024, transition to 100 percent renewable energy sources by 2030 using solar, wind and geothermal energy, and reduction of our food import bill by 25 percent by 2025 in the first instance. If we solve energy, then with energy, we solve water, and with water, we solve food.” “Over the next five (5) to 10 years, we will invest over EC$200 million in sustainable and resilient water infrastructure including drilling additional wells, investing in desalinated water, upgrading pipelines, improving storage reservoirs, and introducing modern technology to optimize the use of our resources.
We will also invest in our people to increase institutional and technical capacity. Work has already begun to develop green building codes which we hope will spark a paradigm shift in the way our citizens and residents utilize water,” he also shared.
Front Banner Image: Minister of Public Infrastructure and Utilities Konris Maynard shows the about 1723 feet above sea level in the mountains above Cayon when he joined members of the Water Services Department on a serious trek up to the Green Hill Water in Februray 2023 (Facebook/Hon. Konris G M Maynard)
