World Bank approves US$7.7m to improve St Lucia’s water service 

Friday, May 20, 2005

WASHINGTON, USA: The World Bank on Thursday approved a US$7.70 million loan for St. Lucia to improve water service in the country. 

The St. Lucia Water Supply Infrastructure Improvement Project will support an urgent investment program to carry out critical works to achieve the following objectives: 

• Alleviate the water shortage in the north of the country, the most densely populated and developed region of the island. The infrastructure works proposed will allow the utility to supply the entire north of the island with a more efficient, continuous and reliable service; 

• Implement urgent investments that will result in additional revenues, reduce the likelihood of commercial users abandoning the system and improve the potential of a successful partnership between the government and the private sector. 

“A better water system will have important economic and social benefits for St. Lucia,” said Caroline Anstey, World Bank Director for the Caribbean. “A more reliable and continuous water supply will greatly improve the quality of life for the citizens of St. Lucia. Since the area impacted by this project not only contains the majority of the island’s residents but also the primary tourism development centers, the improved services will support economic growth and job creation as well.” 

The project will improve the reliability of the water supply system of the Roseau Dam, the island’s only large reservoir, by increasing the flow of water to the north of St. Lucia as required to meet the current shortfall in water capacity in that area. Some components that would require upgrading include the Roseau Dam system pumping system, the system’s raw water transmission, the Theobalds Treatment Plant and the Morne Bocage distribution pipeline that will connect the Roseau system to the Hill 20 system. 

“The project will help avert a worsening water supply crisis in the north of the island, reduce the possibility of abandonment of the system by resorts and hotels, and help entice the equity contribution of private investors into the water utility sector,” said Jordan Schwartz, World Bank task manager of the project. 

The World Bank views improving access to water supply as essential for sustainable poverty reduction and critical for reaching the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in 2015. The St. Lucia Water Supply Infrastructure Improvement Project seeks to achieve the objective of the Bank’s Country Assistance Strategy for St. Lucia of creating an enabling environment for continued or increased private investment in sunrise industries and improving living conditions through increasing the efficiency of infrastructure provision. 

The $7.70 million operation approved today includes a $3.85 million credit from the International Development Association, the part of the World Bank that provides interest-free loans, with a 35 year maturity and 10 years of grace, and a $3.85 million, fixed-spread loan from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development with a 15 year maturity and a five-year grace period. 

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