BRIDGETOWN, Barbados–A credit union here has partnered with the Barbados Water Authority (BWA) as part of an effort to bring relief to the hundreds of residents in the north of the island who have been affected by the prolonged drought of two years ago.
The BWA launched the Personal Tank Programme (PTP), a water tank storage system managed by the BWA and available first to the most vulnerable in the parishes affected by drought and then to wider Barbados.
The BWA and City of Bridgetown Credit Union have signed an agreement for the partnership, which offers residents in St John, St Peter, St Joseph, St Andrew and St Thomas a 400-gallon tank, pump, fittings and installation on a full tank solution under a five-year interest free hire purchase agreement from the BWA. It will be connected to regular plumbing and filled by the BWA tankers under the Rapid Response Unit during outages, according to the two organizations.
The BWA’s chairman, Dr. Atlee Brathwaite, said residents in those areas who genuinely cannot afford the cost of the system will undergo a means test and be offered an interest free loan from the BWA.
But Brathwaite added that Barbadians who can afford the system, funding will be available through the BWA partnership with City of Bridgetown Credit Union.
The credit union’s president, Henderson Williams, said during a meeting announcing the partnership that the CU believes now is a good time to partner with the BWA to fulfil the Tank Programme. Williams said the partnership has the potential to transform the lives of relatives, friends and family, by educating and modifying our behavior in relation to the use of our water resources.
“The issue of water conservation and responsibility for the use of water continues to be of paramount importance to all Barbadians. Certainly, with the issues in relation to global warming,” he said. “The point ladies and gentleman is simple. We must take action and we must take action now. We at the City of Bridgetown understand that it is our corporate social responsibility to continue to address issues that will affect our growing and diverse membership.”