By LCN Business Desk
Jamaica signed a loan agreement with the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) on Wednesday, 16 September, to finance the US$36 million Jamaica Rural Water Supply Programme, which is expected to improve access to potable water for more than 40,000 residents through six water supply schemes in five parishes, the Jamaica Information Service and The Gleaner reported. Prime Minister Andrew Holness signed at the Consulate General of Jamaica in Miami.
Guyana holds a larger CDB water loan of its own. The bank approved US$76.2 million in July 2023 for the Guyana Water Supply Improvement Project, to build five water treatment plants for communities that draw untreated well water, with implementation over three years from March 2024, according to the CDB. The tenders to lay its transmission mains were published this month, and the bids open on 6 October 2026, Kaieteur News reported.
What will Jamaica's loan build?
The programme covers Agualta Vale, Jordan Run and Mason Hall in St Mary; Albert Town and Ulster Spring in Trelawny; Union and Balaclava in St Elizabeth; Port Morant and Airy Castle in St Thomas; and Green Park Bamboo in St Ann, according to the Jamaica Information Service. Water Minister Matthew Samuda said it includes upgrades to treatment facilities, transmission and distribution lines, three community tanks holding about 800,000 gallons together, and several lift stations. "These are large-scale rural water projects," he said.
Holness said utility-grade water reaches between 75 and 80 per cent of Jamaicans, and that the new systems will be built to National Water Commission standards and handed to it on completion, The Gleaner reported. He tied the timing to drought: below-average rainfall linked to El Niño has brought water restrictions to several communities. La Caribeña News reported in August that the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration put a 69 per cent chance on a record El Niño. Holness said the loan sits within the government's fiscal envelope, weeks after Jamaica borrowed US$1 billion to buy back older bonds.
"The Jamaica Rural Water Supply Project is about far more than pipes, pumps and reservoirs… it is about improving lives," said CDB President Daniel Best, who described rural Caribbean communities facing shortages, ageing infrastructure, inadequate storage and weak distribution.
What will Guyana's CDB loan build, and where does it stand?
The Guyana project serves Bush Lot, Tain to No. 50 Village, Walton Hall to Charity, Wakenaam and Leguan Island, nearly 15,000 households in all, according to the CDB. Those communities are "currently supplied by wells that have no water treatment facilities", and supply is disrupted by pump failures, line breaks and flooding, the bank stated. Its environmental and social assessment found that residents face "the need to purchase drinking water" because of the untreated supply.
When it approved the loan, the CDB stated that 96 per cent of Guyanese had access to potable water but only 53 per cent of the supply met the World Health Organization's aesthetic standard, because of high iron content. The project was meant to support the government's aim of treated water for 90 per cent of the population by 2025.
The September tenders, published by the Ministry of Public Utilities and Aviation with Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) as executing agency, cover about 17.1 km of pipe from Walton Hall to Charity, 4.4 km on Leguan, 6.5 km on Wakenaam, 20.1 km from Jacoba to Experiment Housing Scheme in Berbice, and 20 km from Tain to Village 47 on the Corentyne, according to Kaieteur News, about 68 km in all.
| Jamaica | Guyana | |
|---|---|---|
| CDB loan | US$36 million | US$76.2 million |
| Status | Signed 16 September 2026 | Approved July 2023; pipe bids open 6 October 2026 |
| Beneficiaries | More than 40,000 residents | Nearly 15,000 households |
| Scope | Six schemes in five parishes | Five treatment plants, mains and meters in five communities |
| National coverage cited | Utility-grade water: 75 to 80 per cent | Treated coastal water: about 80 per cent |
Sources: Jamaica Information Service, CDB, Kaieteur News, and Minister Deodat Indar as reported by La Caribeña News.
How does this sit beside the state bottling plant?
On 27 July the National Assembly approved G$496.3 million for Guyana's first state-owned water bottling plant, under GWI's coastal water supply services programme, as La Caribeña News reported. Minister of Public Utilities and Aviation Deodat Indar had said in May that treated water on the coastline reaches about 80 per cent of the population, with 100 per cent targeted within two years, and that the Four Miles treatment plant at Bartica cost G$607 million.
President Mohamed Irfaan Ali had proposed in February a shared bottle-making facility built with the private sector, and the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association has since asked the government to review the state plant, which it says competes with investments its members made, La Caribeña News reported.
The CDB's own assessment put the residents of the five communities it is financing among those buying drinking water because their taps deliver untreated well water. The treatment plants that would change that are in the loan approved in 2023; the pipes that connect them go to bid on 6 October.
What the title card shows
- Jamaica: US$36 million CDB loan signed 16 September 2026; more than 40,000 residents; six schemes in five parishes; utility-grade water at 75 to 80 per cent. Sources: JIS, The Gleaner.
- Guyana: US$76.2 million CDB loan approved July 2023; five treatment plants; nearly 15,000 households on untreated wells; about 68 km of transmission mains, the sum of the five tender lengths, with bids opening 6 October 2026. Sources: CDB, Kaieteur News.
- Bottling plant: G$496.3 million approved 27 July 2026 under GWI's coastal water supply programme. Source: La Caribeña News.
- Quality: 53 per cent of Guyana's supply met the WHO aesthetic standard in 2023, because of iron. Source: CDB.
Frequently Asked Questions
Did Guyana sign a CDB rural water loan this week?
No. The loan signed on 16 September 2026 was Jamaica's US$36 million Rural Water Supply Programme. Guyana's CDB water loan, US$76.2 million for the Water Supply Improvement Project, was approved in July 2023, and bids for its transmission mains open on 6 October 2026.
Which Guyanese communities does the CDB water loan cover?
Bush Lot, Tain to No. 50 Village, Walton Hall to Charity, Wakenaam and Leguan Island, nearly 15,000 households, which the CDB says are supplied by wells with no treatment.
How much has Guyana approved for a state bottled water plant?
G$496.3 million, approved by the National Assembly on 27 July 2026 under Guyana Water Incorporated's coastal water supply services programme.
What share of Jamaicans have utility-grade water?
Between 75 and 80 per cent, Prime Minister Andrew Holness said at the signing, with the National Water Commission serving more than two million people.