The News Review:

- Government of Jamaica approves contracts to improve sewerage, water…
- Not a drop to drink
- Down the gurgler
- Water crisis in Raj Bhavan
- Not a drop to drink

Government of Jamaica approves contracts to improve sewerage, water…
Jamaica Gleaner – Nov 15, 2006
jpg” > BUCHANAN The Government on Monday approved several contracts worth in excess of $1 billion to improve sewerage and water supply systems in the Corporate Area and some rural parishes. Speaking at the weekly post-Cabinet press briefing, Information and Development Minister Donald Buchanan said that several hundred jobs are to be created from the projects. The largest is to take place within the Kingston Metropolitan Region, where more than $541 million will be spent on improving general water supply in Spanish Town and sections of Portmore, St. The project is being partly funded by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation.

Not a drop to drink
Times of India – Nov 15, 2006
Remote provincial towns and the burgeoning mega cities of thedeveloping world all need major investments in water utilities. This will be costly, and inmany cases impossible without financial help. But the ultimate price of afailure to invest in clean water supplies in health care costs, lostproductivity, and ultimately, human lives far outweighs the expense of spendingwhat is necessarynow. Dervisis UNDP administrator and Manuel is finance minister of SouthAfrica.

Down the gurgler
NEWS.com.au – Nov 15, 2006
Blame, you know, global warming. This was no careless one-liner. No, this excuse for bungling our water supplies was in the Premier’s written speech for his election campaign launch. The trickery confirms this election really is a choice between a green-obsessed Government that does not tell the truth about our water crisis, and a timid Opposition that does not dare do enough to fix it.

Water crisis in Raj Bhavan
Hindu – Nov 15, 2006
But when water starts to play truant with the Raj Bhavan lines it is tension time for the officials of the Kerala Water Authority. On Monday, when the Raj Bhavan called up to say that some of its water taps were running dry, the KWA officials hurried to make good the shortage. Water tankers were rushed to the Raj Bhavan and supply restored in a matter of hours. But why does even a dedicated line — such as the one servicing the Raj Bhavan — find itself short of drinking water? The problem is an overall shortage in the Peroorkada zone, which gets 72 million litres of water from Aruvikkara daily. But the demand for water in the zone is so high that the demand-supply situation here is very delicate. Even a short gap of supply from Aruvikkara would affect the water level at the KWA’s storage tank in Peroorkada, which would dip alarmingly. A few days ago when there was a partial shutdown in water lines to facilitate repair work on a valve, the Peroorkada zone was badly hit…
Even a short gap of supply from Aruvikkara would affect the water level at the KWA’s storage tank in Peroorkada, which would dip alarmingly. A few days ago when there was a partial shutdown in water lines to facilitate repair work on a valve, the Peroorkada zone was badly hit. KWA officials say the water supply will take some more days more to get stabilised. Mahadevan Printer friendly.

Not a drop to drink
Times of India – Nov 15, 2006
Too much of thepolicy discussion on water delivery has been dominated by a dead-end debate onprivatisation versus state ownership. This is a false choice: There is a widerange of rational financial and policy approaches for securing clean watersupplies, with most relying on some combination of public and private sectorinvolvement. The realchallenge is how to get potable water to those who can least afford to pay. Households hooked up directly to muni-cipal water pipes typically get thecheapest water. The poor haveto go through a web of intermediaries tanker truck operators, vendors and otherwater suppliers to purchase their water supplies. Every step they are forced totake away from the water source adds to the price.