Mr. Hugh Lake, one of Anguilla’s main vegetable farmers, has expressed much commendation for the quality and 24/7 water supply from the reverse osmosis plant at Crocus Bay.
“I shake your hand and congratulate you,” he told Mr. Curtis Richardson, Minister of Agriculture, and Acting Premier, who stopped by at his plantation south of the old Factory’s premises on Tuesday, June 4.
“The water is very nice and it is making my plants grow better,” Lake said, pointing to his field of corn under drip irrigation. “The water is not as salt as before.”
Hugh Lake has just bulldozed a new section of land above the main road, clearing away a thick overgrowth of mimosa. It has opened up and beautified the area, and provided an extension of the farmland made available to him by Government through the Department of Agriculture.
He has expressed gratitude to Mr. Joseph Vanterpool, who assisted him with removing the bulldozed debris, and Mr. William Vanterpool, Director of Agriculture, who is working closely with him in his successful farming efforts. He is also grateful to Mr. Elsior Sasso, his associate and fellow farmer.
Meanwhile, Minister Curtis Richardson is delighted that the water supply is now available 24/7 at some one million gallons a day, coming from the reverse osmosis or desalination plant and the reservoirs at Crocus Hill – supplied by a number of wells in The Valley.
He said that with the commissioning of an excavator, provided by Seven Seas, the operator of the plant, his Ministry and the Anguilla Water Corporation will now be putting in place waterlines to homes. At present there are 500 applications.
Mr. Richardson reported that a number of hotels have expressed a desire to have connections to the water supply. He explained that, as the hotels are located in the west of the island, efforts will be made to provide storage and pumping facilities there at a later date.
The Minister took pleasure in mentioning that special rates for water have now been decided on for farmers and senior citizens, thus making life easier for them.
