Prime Minister, Dr. the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, has commended employees of the National Water Commission (NWC) for bringing the company up to par, where it is no longer a fiscal risk to the Government.

During his address at the NWC Employees’ Long-Service Awards Ceremony on Thursday (July 2) inside the National Indoor Sports Centre, in Kingston, Dr. Holness noted that there was a marked difference in the operations in recent years.

“That was not the case a decade or so ago. A decade or so ago, the NWC was considered a fiscal risk, meaning that at any time, debt of the NWC could become the debt of the Central Government. Not so today,” Dr. Holness said.

“We have significantly improved the operations of the NWC in that regard… And my own estimate is that in the next five years, there will be a substantial improvement in the delivery and reliability of water supply, particularly in the northwestern end of the island, in the central part of Jamaica, particularly between Manchester and St. Elizabeth… we are almost there. We are almost completing that major water project there, and in Kingston and St. Andrew, massive undertaking to improve water supply for sewerage and potable water,” he noted.

Dr. Holness said he had occasion to look at the financial performance of the NWC and it is two or three times in its history that it has operated as efficiently as it is operating now.

“The truth is that for the first time in decades, the NWC approached a break-even point and even made a very small profit in three years, and because of review of compensation, it affected the out-turn of the accounts. But the truth is that my administration has taken a business approach to the NWC to optimise its operations for the benefit of you the employees,” Dr. Holness said.

“For the first time in a long time, in many decades since its establishment, the debt of the NWC is managed very well and under control. The NWC does not have to come to the Central Government for support for overburdening debt on its balance sheet,” he noted.

The Prime Minister said that with the improvement in finances, new changes are coming for the NWC in the next five years, such as improvement works at the Hermitage Dam in St. Andrew, which will include building a new dam for the facility.

As it relates to the quality of the NWC infrastructure, he said the company is in a position to undertake massive capital works to improve the reliability of the infrastructure to deliver water to the communities that now do not have it.

The Long Service Awards Ceremony was held under the theme ‘Timeless Treasures: Honouring Dedication and Service’, and 969 employees were awarded for more than 10 years of service.

Dr. Holness told the awardees that they played a great role in the improvements at the NWC.

“The fact that the Board and the management has thought it necessary to engage in this exercise (the awards ceremony), is a show of their respect to you, to show their commitment to you, to show how important you are to the national project and to strike up a partnership between the workers, management and, of course, the government’s policies and strategies for development,” Dr. Holness said.

“You are employed to the NWC at probably the best time ever in its existence. The NWC is an important national asset for Jamaica,” he added.