Grenada’s Tourism Minister assures hotel water needs will be met
Water restrictions, which will go into effect on Sunday in Grenada, are not expected to have a major impact on the country’s vital tourism industry.
Minister of Tourism Adrian Thomas said contingency plans are in place to ensure hotels, schools and private residences have the water they need.
“You’re going to have water every day. The point about it is you may not have it throughout the entire day. For the last couple of years, climate change has impacted Grenada extremely hard in regards to getting a long spell of dry seasons,” he told Loop News in a interview on the sidelines of today’s launch of the Pure Grenada Expo in Port of Spain, Trinidad.
“This period now is tourist season. All the hotels are filled with people so you have more consumption of water and schools are in full gear. Things are busy in Grenada, so obviously water is being consumed. But once the rain starts to fall, the situation is going to be remedied.”
He continued: “But let me say that we have large trucks that ensure that hotels in particular have water. So, in the hotel, we don’t really have a problem that the guests cannot get water. And as a matter of fact, what the guests are doing, they are spending the entire day on the beach and it’s just to rinse off their skin and go to bed.”
Thomas said there is no need for hoteliers to cut back on the number of guests they have at their properties.
At a media conference today, Terrence Smith, National Water and Sewerage Authority (NAWASA) Acting General Manager, announced that approval was given for the agency to impose limits on water use.
Smith said NAWASA tried over the last few weeks to ensure there was equitable distribution of the limited supply of water to Grenadians.
But he noted “very little” water is left in Grand Etang Lake to pump to the Annandale Water Treatment Plant, which supplies a large part of Grenada.
Denise Boris, NAWASA’s inhouse legal counsel, said from Sunday it will be illegal to fill swimming pools, large manmade ponds and use hoses to wash vehicles, irrigate gardens and wash homes.
Anyone caught breaking the water restriction can be fined EC$500 or be imprisoned for one month if in default.
“This is not something NAWASA takes lightly and wants to go around enforcing the regulations. So, we are asking the general public to cooperate with NAWASA during this period and restrict the use of your water as we have asked you to do,” Boris said.
