Antigua receives US$60M grant from China to support re-piping initiative

China has agreed to make a US$60 million grant available to Antigua and Barbuda to support a much-needed re-piping initiative that will help upgrade the twin-island’s aging water infrastructure.

According to Antigua Newsroom’s website, Utilities Minister Melford Nicholas confirmed that the grant came after a diplomatic visit by Prime Minister Gaston Browne to China. The re-piping project is geared towards the replacement of deteriorating underground pipelines which have contributed to water supply problems for the country.

“This project will be a significant help, but it’s certainly not the end of the road,” Nicholas said. “We have to go route by route, community by community.”

According to the website, Antigua produces over nine million gallons of water per day but much of it is lost to leaks in its old piping network.   

The Antiguan government believes the project is a key element of its wider water resilience strategy, which includes increasing storage capacity, expanding desalination, and introducing smart monitoring technologies to reduce wastage and improve efficiency, Antigua News Room reported.

A full system overhaul is expected to take years of planning and continued investment, officials say.