You'll notice that at the end of his comments, the BWS CEO briefly brought up the concerns about a proper sewage system for the island. As we showed you last night, residents are worried that sewage is a growing problem for Caye Caulker. They have sounded the alarm that if something is not done urgently, that's another crisis waiting to happen.
Well, the CEO told residents that the BWS is acutely aware of the problem, and is currently exploring possible solutions:
Alvan Haynes - CEO, BWSL
"The unfortunate thing is that sewage collection and treatment is required urgently for environmental reasons, health reasons, and business reasons. But sewage is expensive. It's the most expensive infrastructure of all the utilities, and strangely enough, no one wants to pay the costs that the sewage treatment and collection will come up to. So, in collaboration with the Government, BTB, the Ministry of Finance - and the Ministry of Finance has pledged 3 million dollars toward assisting with a project for South Caye Caulker. We're looking initially to try to put a modular treatment plant, but that can't even begin to cover the cost of the collection system, mainly the trenching, piping - and if it needs be - pumping and pump stations that will be needed to go in the ground, and on the ground to reach the plant. So, we're seeking grant funding, and grant funding doesn't come in overnight. We can't just sit down, write a letter, and put it on social media, and hope that Bill Gates will say, 'Yea, Belize or Caye Caulker, here is 30 million dollars.' So, we're working on that. We have spoken with a number of agencies, and we're looking at how we can implement that."
From the perspective of BWS, the island will need two separate sewage treatment plants to service the northern and southern parts of Caye Caulker.
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