The government is to spend close to J$20 billion this year on two major water improvement projects in St Catherine.
Minister with responsibility for water, Dr Horace Chang, says J$13.5 billion will be spent to expand and improve the Soapberry wastewater treatment plant, while J$6.1 billion will be used to build the Rio Cobre water treatment plant.
Chang says the expansion of the Soapberry plant will enable the facility to recycle approximately 20 million gallons of wastewater currently being discharged from the plant into the sea.
He says the plan is to take all the wastewater in the metropolitan region, incorporating the Corporate Area and St Catherine, and recycle it for irrigation and other purposes.
In the meantime, Chang says the Rio Cobre water treatment plant, to be constructed in Content, St Catherine, is expected to provide approximately 15 million gallons of potable water per day.
He says the government is seeking to carry out the project through a public-private partnership.
