NIA CHARLESTOWN NEVIS (July 09, 2020) – Hon. Spencer Brand, Minister responsible for Water Services in the Nevis Island Administration (NIA) says he is pleased with the financial contribution the Nevis Water Department (NWD) is making as its response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mr. Brand, speaking at the most recent sitting of the Nevis Island Assembly, noted a 26 percent falloff in revenue for the first few months of 2020 as being for a worthy cause because it was a direct result of the NIA’s COVID-19 relief of a six-month waiver on water bills for bona fide farmers.

“We saw a revenue of $2.8 million between January to May 2019, and under the same period we are seeing just a little more than $2 million in revenue.

“It was the directive of the Honourable Premier of Nevis to ensure that we ramped up our food production, and the Minister of Agriculture would have ensured that we do just that. We have some 90 bona fide farmers who will benefit from free water over the next few months. So, the decrease in revenue was for a good cause,” he said.

The Minister also informed that more water had been produced over the comparative period.

“The total amount of water produced for the period January to May 2019 was 173,749,430 imperial gallons and under the same period in 2020, we saw the production of 225,685,600 imperial gallons. That was a 23percent increase that was sold but some of it is free water, and we recognize that it was for a very good cause,” he revealed.