NWC turns to US$300m programme, AI to tackle massive water losses

WESTERN BUREAU:

Water Minister Matthew Samuda says the National Water Commission (NWC) is investing US$300 million in infrastructure upgrades and adopting artificial intelligence to reduce water losses, speed up development approvals and improve efficiency, as public scrutiny grows over its application for a tariff increase.

He said a contractor is expected to be selected by the end of November to undertake the seven- to eight-year programme aimed at reducing water losses from leaking pipelines and theft, which exceed 70 per cent in some sections of Jamaica.

“No business, no enterprise on the planet can run with that sort of leakage,” Samuda said at a ceremony in St Elizabeth last week.

“We will be appointing a contractor supported by the World Bank’s team and a World Bank programme to do US$300 million worth of work over the next seven to eight years, identifying every single leak in the country and prioritising which ones require the first round of infrastructure work,” Samuda said.

He explained that the programme would involve replacing existing water meters, installing flow-monitoring equipment, and digitising the distribution network to improve the NWC’s ability to identify and address losses.

Samuda announced that artificial intelligence (AI) would be introduced to improve the processing of development applications.

“We’ll be digitising the process and using AI so that the approvals requested that meet all of the requirements easily can be approved very quickly,” he said.”The ones that require infrastructure support to facilitate those investments will be the ones that still get human eyes.”

Samuda acknowledged that developers had legitimate concerns about the length of time required to secure approvals from the commission.

“We’re often attacked by developers who want to get their approvals faster, and they deserve to get those approvals faster,” he said.

The minister explained that the technological transformation also include improved management oversight, vehicle tracking, and monitoring staff productivity. He said the changes would be implemented over the next five years as part of a wider programme to strengthen accountability and improve service delivery.

Samuda also pointed to improvements in staff performance management, noting that the proportion of performance appraisals submitted on time had increased from 56 per cent five and a half years ago to more than 97 per cent.

The minister argued that the utility’s financial transformation must be accompanied by measurable improvements in efficiency, infrastructure investment, and customer service.

The minister said the Government’s broader water infrastructure programme was designed to improve resilience and ensure more reliable supplies for households and businesses.

albert.ferguson@gleanerjm.com