Saint Lucians are to benefit from a grant of USD749,619 from the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) to the Water and Sewage Company Inc. for improvements to its water supply and sewage service.
The grant is expected to improve the reliability, resilience, and sustainability of the services provided by the island’s water and sewage company.
According to the CDB, technical assistance is being provided to develop a climate-resilient water supply and wastewater masterplan and improve WASCO’s capacity to assess climate risk and plan for future climate-resilient investments in the sector.
“This will ensure that the company can deliver safe drinking water and wastewater management services efficiently and sustainably,” a release from the bank stated.
The service improvement will benefit WASCO’s current customers and help accommodate its steadily increasing new customer base.
CDB’s Division Chief (Environmental Sustainability) Ms. Valerie Isaac, said that the technical assistance will empower WASCO to address the impacts of climate change on its operations and strengthen its capacity to deal with climate change-related issues.
“WASCO will be able to assess climate risks, and identify, prioritise, and execute suitable programmes and projects that enhance the resilience of water supply and sewage services, and the masterplan will provide key stakeholders with comprehensive guidance for prioritised investments.,” Isaac said.
She added that women will be targeted for training and capacity building, as they are critical to the sustainability of water and sanitation improvement initiatives.
“This intervention will have a significant positive impact on the women and rural population groups and ultimately improve the lives and well-being of Saint Lucia’s residents and visitors,” Isaac added.
The project is being executed under the CDB’s Caribbean Action for Resilience Enhancement (CARE) Programme, which is funded by the European Union through the 11th European Development Fund’s (EDF) Intra-African Caribbean Pacific – European Union- (ACP-EU) Natural Disaster Risk Reduction Programme.
CARE is a five-year, €14 million initiative to support disaster risk management and climate resilience building efforts in CDB’s 19 Borrowing Member Countries. The programme provides grant financing to support initiatives aimed at improving governance on disaster risk management and climate change adaptation.
Financing is also used for strengthening evidence-based and gender-sensitive decision-making and financial response to the effects of climate change and natural hazards and enhancing community infrastructure and livelihood resilience to climate change and natural hazards.