Belize Water Services Limited in gearing up for the 34th Caribbean Water and Wastewater Association Conference, which will be hosted in the country for the first time. It's a week-long event where hundreds of their regional counterparts in the region will be able to network, to learn, and to tackle challenges and find solutions in the sector. Today, BWS and CWWA held a joint press briefing to explain what's coming on Monday. Courtney Menzies was there and has this story.
500 water and wastewater professionals will gather in San Pedro next Monday for the 34 annual CWWA Conference. It's Belize's first time hosting the event - through BWS. According to CWWA's executive director, it's actually the first time they're bringing the conference to this region.
Laurayne Lucky, Executive Director, CWWA
"This is the first time we are in Central America, this is the first time we are hosting with Belize. And Belize has been a longstanding member of the CWWA and over the last few years, we've been working really closely with the Belize Water Service Limited. So when the opportunity was presented to us to host in Belize, of course we were very excited and very happy to partner with the Belize government and BWSL to host this event."
"Our annual conference and exhibition is one of the main mechanisms through which we do this because it is first and foremost the largest gathering of water and sanitation professionals in the region. It is also a great way to share ideas, challenges, stumbling blocks and to share meaningful solutions with our counterparts in the sector so that we can promote continuing sustainable development in water, wastewater and solid waste management."
Keira Clarke, Conference Chair/Senior Admin. Assistant, BWS
"Immediately after the opening ceremony, we'll be having a ribbon cutting ceremony for the exhibition hall, that is where our exhibitors will be showcasing their products and services. On the Tuesday of that week, we will be having our charity event which is a 5k walk/run."
"Thereafter the Tuesday we'll be having the cultural night, which will be on the beachside of Grand Caribe."
"On the Thursday, we will be having the closing ceremony which we will also be issuing special awards for the closing ceremony and on the Friday we will be having technical tours."
And one of the reasons Belize was chosen to host this year is because the country has been setting the standard for water services in the Caribbean. This gives us the opportunity to share our best practices with other countries - and learn from them as well.
Rashida Williams Castillo, CFO, BWS
"We are proud to say as BWS we have 99.9% continuity supply of water. In some of these Caribbean countries, they have water sometimes 3 days of the week so you have to schedule when you could get water. So we want to say that we are the pride and joy, and I'm tooting our own horn here, and that's fine because we try to learn from other individuals and other companies in the Caribbean for us to continue to be the best provider in the country."
Laurayne Lucky, Executive Director, CWWA
"We are small island developing states and no one country can do it alone which is why we focus so heavily on collective action, on collaboration, on the regional perspective so we understand that as a nation, each country is different, each territory is different, their challenges, while they may similar challenges, some countries have abundant resources and some countries for instance, Antigua and Barbuda, St Kitts and Nevis, they face severe water shortages and they have been defined as water scarce. So that's why it's so important for us as CWWA to provide the platform for these countries to come together and discuss how, as a nation, they can build security as it relates to water as well as wastewater management but also, how can we help each other."
And it's fitting that the conference will be held in San Pedro since BWS' next big project will expand its services in northern Ambergris Caye - but it's not going to be cheap.
Rashida Williams Castillo, CFO, BWS
"For some time now BWS has been on the forefront with a project designated for north Ambergris Caye. Definitely we've seen over the years that development has improved, we do have sewer services on southern San Pedro. So as we move towards northern San Pedro, we have a big project that will cover the entire Ambergris north and this will include water and wastewater services. However, as we mentioned sewer services are very expensive."
"So one of the things, and BWS is in dialogue with the government of Belize to see how we could try to phase in this project that could help to assist the needs of northern San Pedro as we know that the demand will increase on that side and like you said we don't want to be in a position where we cannot meet that demand. And given the importance for the environment sustainability of the cayes as well is vital to Belize."
"So we're looking at a phased approach to try to get the funding to roll out this project."
Laurayne Lucky, Executive Director, CWWA
"I will underscore water is quite expensive to produce and you spoke about the tariffs. Some countries do have what we would consider cost reflective tariffs but I would say by majority most don't, so most have very low tariffs for water which makes it exceedingly difficult for any sort of capital investment, any sort of capital investment level upgrades which is sorely needed, particularly in this region to be able to continue to produce water, to expand production, to meet the current challenges."
The conference will end on Friday the 24th.
