BRADES, Montserrat – Manager of the island’s water system Emile Duberry sounded the alarm Thursday that there is only capacity to store a half a day’s supply of water for the Lookout, St. Johns area.
Sharing during the Disaster Management Coordination Agency (DMCA)’s Annual Hurricane Conference on Thursday, Duberry says Montserrat Utilities Ltd. (MUL) has a more than adequate supply for the Salem and St Peters areas but for the North of the island there is not enough for an entire day.
“The population has increased in the North but the storage tank at Dick Hill has not been increased to accommodate the growth,” Duberry added. He implored the DMCA and the Public Works Department to support their application to fund a larger tank and help reduce the island’s vulnerability.
Trevor Howe from the Ministry of Health and Billy Darroux, Director of the DMCA said the public needs to have at least two to three day’s supply of water and medicines per person per household on hand. Darroux added this should also be the case for people who will need to go to a shelter.
“We must try to be as self-sufficient as possible,” Howe said.
Last year MUL was forced to initiate a water rationing system to manage the supplies ahead of an approaching storm.
“We need funds to construct the tank,” Duberry said. He added that MUL also has limited funds available to handle pre and post disaster emergencies. There is also concern about the ability to access water source areas which are vulnerable to landslides and flooding and pose added risk to supplying the entire island with water continually. MUL says it is also in need of a reliable communication system.
