Investment in desal plant necessary

A desalination plant to provide a sustained water supply for Tobago would be built as a matter of urgency.

So said Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley, as he addressed attendees at Monday’s sod-turning ceremony for construction of infrastructure to accommodate a 20-megawatt upgrade project at the Cove Power Station in Lowlands.

“WASA has already got the clearance to proceed with the desalination plant to ensure that at no time in the not too distant future, especially as we expand our tourism plant, that we have situations where there isn’t enough water in Tobago. In every dry season we have this problem of a shortage of water in Tobago,” Rowley said.

He said the desalination plant was not cheap, but it was necessary.

“You cannot have the kind of environment wanting to invite the kind of visitor levels where you go to a hotel in Tobago and they have no water, toilets cannot flush, or every five minutes the power has gone, no air-conditioning, no kitchen operations.

“Those are not the kinds of situations we want when we invite people to Tobago. The infrastructure investment and expenditure have to be made and they have to be made now,” he stressed.

Rowley also spoke of the building of a breakwater for the beach at the state- owned Magdalena Grand Beach and Golf Resort, and that Government was seeking an operator for the hotel.

“We are seeking to get an international brand, if we can find one to allow the hotel to be marketed internationally, in such a way to make full use of its location and its offerings as a family or resort destination.

“The beach is a problem, but we have had to wait engineering and other kinds of technical experts and the last report that I had is that this is pretty close to completion and very soon we should be able to go out for tender for the building of that breakwater which would give that hotel a very fine beach, and that would complete its presentation and then we move towards trying to get it lifted from just being a Magdalena in Tobago,” he added.

Rowley also spoke of other construction projects on the island - two police stations, with a third one on the drawing board for the Plymouth area.

“The long-anticipated Grange Police Station is under construction on Shirvan Road and when that project is completed it would be one of the finest police stations in the region.

“In parallel, a similar facility is under construction at Roxborough, so we would have two very modern police stations one in the west, one in the east. On the drawing board, there is a third one for the Plymouth area, and together these infrastructural units would be fully utilised by those charged with the responsibility to ensure that safety and security in Tobago will be at an acceptable level,” he said.