By Val Matthias. Updated 6:44 a.m., Friday, May 15, 2026, Atlantic Standard Time (GMT-4).
A desalination project intended to improve water supply in Bequia has been stalled for more than seven years despite funding support from the Italian government, according to Health and Energy Minister Daniel Cummings.
Speaking on NBC Radio, Cummings said the project would already have been supplying water to Bequia residents had it been implemented earlier.
“I find it very difficult to understand why for more than seven years now the Italian government offered us a desalination plant for Bequia,” the minister said.
According to Cummings, the proposed project included not only a desalination facility but also storage infrastructure and distribution pipelines intended to provide residents with a regular supply of treated water.
“For whatever reason, that project has not taken off the ground, and it is a crying shame,” he added.
Bequia is currently among several Grenadine islands facing severe water shortages amid prolonged dry weather and the lingering effects of Hurricane Beryl.
Residents have been depending partly on trucked and shipped water supplies as authorities struggle to meet demand.
Cummings said the government is now moving to advance desalination projects throughout the Grenadines as part of a broader push to modernise the territory’s water infrastructure.
He argued that neighbouring Grenadian islands had already demonstrated the effectiveness of desalination systems.
“Carriacou and Petite Martinique have a reliable water supply system,” he said
The minister also disclosed that a privately owned desalination plant on Union Island is expected to begin operations soon, although water will initially need to be transported by tanker because a distribution network is not yet in place.
Cummings maintained that long-term investments in desalination and renewable energy are now essential for the Grenadines because of limited natural freshwater resources and increasingly unpredictable rainfall patterns.
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