Several Manager of the APUA were invited to Cabinet to address their preparedness for the hurricane season as well as the production and distribution of water. The APUA team reported that a new power plant is being constructed that will be driven by liquid natural gas (LNG). It was agreed that a team of Police, APUA and Ministry officials will examine areas of Antigua where streetlights are required; the object is to ensure that those who engage in criminal activities will be deterred by bright lights in well-lit alleyways and community roads and cameras. A new R/O plant will also be commissioned in July in Barbuda, increasing production to 180,000 gallons per day. The new plant will ensure that a sufficient supply of water will be available to homes and businesses. Potable water production in Barbuda will also be driven by green technology. The Ffryes Reverse Osmosis plant that has been operating below full capacity; its capacity was reduced due to the failure of one of its critical components. The replacement parts had to be procured from an overseas supplier or very early next week. It was taken offline for maintenance. The Cabinet was also informed that the water which is seen in Big Creek is salty and not available for human or animal consumption.
The APUA team reported that it currently has eleven million gallons of storage around the island, but needs thirty million gallons of storage if it is to supply all consumers at all hours, equivalent to three days’ supply. It will achieve that level of resiliency to overcome the current outages. For this reason, it is necessary sometimes to fill the tanks at night and to discharge the stored water to customers in the daytime. It was agreed that the APUA will install sufficient capacity in the Yeptons/Five Islands area in light of the residential and college community as additional students, dorms and facilities are being built.
