Group at Water and Sewerage Office, Thompson Blvd. and at the concluding sessions at IDB, East Bay Street.

The Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago recently received funding for a Technical Exchange visit to The Bahamas and Jamaica on the topic of Non-Revenue Water (NRW) reduction.

Supported and hosted by the Inter-American Development Bank’s (IDB) Bahamas country office in Nassau, the objective of the exchange was to build the capacity of a Bahamian team, that includes partners from The Ministry of Public Utilities, and The Water and Sewerage Corporation.

Senator the Honorable Robert Le Hunte, a delegate from Trinidad and Tobago, explained that the sessions were impactful. “The purpose of this session in The Bahamas was really to look at the IDB-funded project with MIYA [Please spell out MIYA], and what were their successes have been regarding NRW, such as producing NRW within the island.

He added that most important element of the exchange visit was the focus on the pros and cons associated with the contract, with the view of seeing how all interested parties can learn from this process, and how some of these changes or some of the benefits of what this company did to reduce NRW in The Bahamas could also be implemented within Trinidad and Tobago.

Senator Le Hunte further emphasized: “All in all, it was a tremendous meeting. IDB’s information was greatly appreciated and the funding and assistance which they gave was tremendous.”

Other benefits of the exchange visit included sharing of best practices in NRW reduction, the use of innovative contract modalities and cost savings in operations and maintenance, discussions on operational and maintenance issues faced by The Water and Sewerage Corporation, and general collaboration among industry thought leaders.

Rocio Medina Bolivar, the IDB’s country representative in Trinidad and Tobago, noted, “We at the IDB’s office in Port of Spain supported this delegation from the Ministry of Public Utilities and Water Authorities in Trinidad and Tobago. It was an excellent experience talking with the Bahamian Water and Sewerage authorities and with the Bahamian Minister of Public Works. The Trinidadian delegation is very happy with all the things that they can learn about the performance-based contract that The Bahamas has implemented. It has achieved excellent results. We’re moving ahead with sending a delegation to Jamaica, so we’re looking forward to that exchange as well.”

Noam Komy, the Vice President for Strategy and Corporate Development of MIYA Bahamas, commented, “I want to thank the IDB and Bahamas Water and Sewerage for a very well-organized event. I think there were fruitful discussions, in which we learned a lot from each other about the challenges and success of this project, and how to implement it in other Caribbean countries. Water and Sewerage and the IDB are our partners, and we are excited for the opportunity to share the successes of this project, and hopefully repeat the same in other countries in the future.”

Mario Tavera, MIYA Project Manager in The Bahamas, added, “I saw this project developing from the beginning. We have gone through several challenges, countless hours of work, day and night. It has been an amazing experience working alongside the Water and Sewerage Corporation and observing how the results come in day after day. We still have a long way to go, since now the goal is keeping the same level of NRW for the coming years. This is not so easy, but I am sure we are on the right track. I am proud to have been part of it.”

Sara - Jade Govia from Trinidad’s Ministry of Public Utilities stated, “This technical exchange was very exciting for me to actually see NRW in action and how The Bahamas was able to really improve and bring better service to their customers because of reducing NRW. I think that we can definitely learn from what has taken place here and we’ll be definitely taking some of the lessons back to Trinidad and Tobago.”