3 months ago
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Belize has officially been selected as the host country for the 34th Annual Caribbean Water and Wastewater Association (CWWA) Conference and Exhibition. This decision was influenced by the notable advancements being made by Belize Water Services (BWS). According to the President of the CWWA, Candice Santana, Belize’s strides in improving water infrastructure, service delivery, and sustainable practices made it a strong candidate. The country’s selection is not only a recognition of ongoing national efforts but also presents a valuable opportunity for Belize to further build capacity, strengthen technical expertise, and deepen regional partnerships in the water and sanitation sector.
Candice Santana, President, CWWA: “Belize would have been a part of CWWA for definitely more than a decade. Belize was chosen because Belize showed interest, one, two the advancement occurring right now in Belize by Belize Water Services right now it’s the ideal time to showcase it. It’s also advanced and it’s the right time for the rest of the Caribbean to come here, build capacity, build competency and the leader of your water services here, Mr. Acosta, is one of the leaders that is currently making the right decisions in the right direction to build water security, to build resilience in terms of efficiency, effectiveness, and so on. So this is the right time for Belize to host it. And it was also the right time for us as CWWA to come to Belize.”
“But the thematic areas are very focused on a number of very critical areas that are impacting the region. First of all, non-revenue water., something that I think the entire Caribbean is very aware of. It is something that plagues the region but not just the Caribbean, across the globe that is a major issue impacting the ability of water utility or the ability of the water utility to provide safe and reliable services. Another key issue would be wastewater management and how we are looking at providing improved wastewater services to the region and looking at nature-based approaches in particular something that is very relevant to our region because we do have the natural resources, the land, the sunlight, and the ability to use this to our benefit. We are also looking at how we communicate with our stakeholders, which is an important part of moving from the current state we’re in to improved services, how our consumers, how our customers, how our community can support that mission and how we as a region can communicate with them in the best way possible.”
The upcoming conference will focus on several thematic areas, with particular attention on critical issues such as non-revenue water, an area where many Caribbean countries face significant losses due to leakage, theft, and system inefficiencies. According to Executive Chairman Cornelio Acosta, Belize has the lowest non-revenue water in the Caribbean.
Cornelio Acosta, Executive Chairman, BWS: “Belize has the lowest NRW in the Caribbean, we’re at 22 % nationally. When you look at, for example, Caye Caulker, the NRW rate there is 5%. San Pedro, you’re looking at about 16%. So when you look at the entire service areas that we manage you’re looking at a total of about 20%, an average of about 20%.which is the lowest in the Caribbean. Aside from that, you look at we’re 100 % metered, our efficiency rate is operational efficiency rate is at 99%. So while we enjoy, for the most part, 24 hours service or even when there’s a blackout, or no power, we still have water. There are some areas that they have a rotation so to speak in terms of the provision of water so every 12 hours. So we do have that in place. We have contingency plans, redundancies for our system that we’ve been working on, moving away from direct production to distribution and having storage in the event of national disasters. I think we are one of the, or we’re the first country to sign on the parametric insurance for the Caribbean as well. So we have been setting trends in the Caribbean. Of course, there are other islands in the Caribbean that have also done well in innovation which we would like to learn from so we could also improve on what we currently offer.”
The exhibition is scheduled to take place in San Pedro from October 20 to 24.
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