Grenada commended for instituting Water Sector Tariff Reform

St. George’s, October 10, 2011 – Grenada has been commended and singled out among OECS nations as the country to be emulated for setting a good example in the way it instituted recent tariff reform in the water sector.

The commendation was made at the just-concluded high-level Ministerial Forum convened by the Global Water Partnership-Caribbean (GWP-C), in collaboration with the Caribbean Water and Waste Water Association (CWWA).

Last year, the National Water and Sewage Authority (NAWASA) received Grenada Government approval for the implementation of comprehensive tariff structure reform, and for increased user charges for water – efforts that were championed in Cabinet by then Minister for Works, the Hon.  Joseph Gilbert.

Prior to 2010, NAWASA had not been allowed a tariff increase for 18 years. NAWASA’s Board of Directors, headed by Chairman Terrence Smith, and the senior management of the Authority – led by General Manager, Christopher Husbands – played a pivotal role in the successful marketing and implementation of the entire tariff reform process.

“Grenada must be applauded for having the political will to implement much-needed tariff reform, even in the face of the worst drought to have hit the Caribbean in more than 50 years. We all must take the opportunity to learn from their experience,’’ Wayne Williams, President of the CWWA, said at the opening ceremony of the forum and exhibition at the La Creole Beach Hotel in Guadeloupe.

The GWP-C/CWWA Ministerial Forum is held annually. It was convened last year in Grenada, and in 2012, it will be in the Bahamas.

“It is an unparalleled regional event, being the only forum that brings together Caribbean Ministers with responsibility for Water,’’ said GWP-C President, Trevor Thompson, who was one of Grenada's representatives at the Guadeloupe forum.

He added that the forum “provides an ideal platform for stakeholders’ discussion and dialogue around issues of Integrated Water Resources Management, including water and sanitation services and water security.’’

The theme for this year's Ministerial Forum was, "Water Management Financing in the Caribbean: Pricing, Efficiency, Equity and Sustainability’’.

Among the funding agencies represented at the forum and exhibition were the European Union, the Inter-American Development Bank, and the Caribbean Development Bank.

Hon. Gilbert, Grenada's outgoing Minister for Works, Physical Development and Public Utilities, was one of several Caribbean Ministers with responsibility for Water who attended the event, which culminated on Friday, October 7. It marked the end of Mr. Gilbert's tenure as Works’ Minister.

He was reassigned to the Ministry of the Environment, Foreign Trade and Export Development by Prime Minister Tillman Thomas in a recent Cabinet reshuffle.

Apart from Mr. Gilbert, other members of the Grenada delegation to the Guadeloupe forum and exhibition included Dennis Clarke, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Works, Physical Development and Public Utilities; Vice President of the CWWA, Alphonsus Daniel; NAWASA Chairman Terrence Smith; General Manager Christopher Husbands; and NAWASA’s Assistant Manager for Transmission and Distribution, Joel Thomas.