Tourism Minister, Hon. Ian Douglas is optimistic of the economic value of the new Morne Bruce water storage tank to Dominica.
Douglas made his comments at the official commissioning of the 500,000 gallon water storage tank in Morne Bruce on Tuesday.
The Minister said the tri-chamber tank can be used as an economic resource.
“This water storage tank will not only be useful for serving the people in the area of Kings Hill, Roseau and environs, but importantly it will be used as an economic resource for supplying clean, fresh potable water to cruise ships visiting Dominica. As you know from a tourism standpoint, Dominica is marketed as the Nature Island. One of the key components of this is highlighting our crystal clear rivers and our natural fresh water and our 365 rivers and other waterfalls. We are truly blessed to have such a scarce global resource in such abundance.”
Minister Douglas announced that vending water to visiting cruise ships raises about two hundred and fifty thousand dollars a year for the island.
“Over the years Dominica has supplied water to cruise ships calling into our ports and the records reveal that the sale of water to cruise ships can raise as much as a quarter million dollars per annum. The bulk water storage facility at Morne Bruce is clearly an opportunity to continue to offer fresh potable water at a reasonable cost to the ships calling into our ports and earn some much needed revenue, since we can provide water of the finest quality at low rates that cannot be surpassed anywhere in the region and probably the world.”
The tourism minister remarked that government’s commitment to Dominica’s development is demonstrated by its ability to invest in the island’s resources.