13 December 2012: The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has approved US$246.5 million as the first of a three-phase, US$546.5 million programme to reduce discharge of untreated wastewater in Trinidad and Tobago.

US$234.4 million of the first-phase loan will finance the construction of two wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) and trunk sewers collection systems for the San Fernando and Malabar wastewater catchment areas. Neither Malabar, with a population of 70,000 that is projected to rise to 108,630 by 2035, nor San Fernando, with a population of 105,000 projected to go to 111,600 in 2035, currently have their wastewater treated. Once the new WWTPs are operational, at least 90% of the wastewater treated should meet the standards set by Trinidad and Tobago’s Water Pollution Rules. This is particularly important in the case of Malabar, since the catchment is upstream from a major water supply intake and treatment plant.

US$4.2 million of the Phase I loan will seek to restructure the Water and Sewage Authority (WASA), improve its policies, reform its corporate governance and reporting practices, and strengthen the technical capacity of its personnel to manage and operate the treatment plants.

Phase II of the programme, to be approved later for a US$100 million loan, will continue the WASA institutional reforms, widen the sewage network for connection to the WWTPs constructed in Phase I, and take over, refurbish, upgrade and/or decommission eight malfunctioning wastewater treatment facilities in the San Fernando catchment areas and four in the Malabar area.

Phase III, to be covered by a US$200 million loan, will expand wastewater collection to provide sewage hookup for households currently using septic tanks and pit latrines. [IDB Press Release]