The milestone achievement of reaching a daily output of 9 million imperial gallons of water by APUA was not an accident.
According to Utilities Minister Melford Nicholas, the achievement was made possible through the implementation oof four strategic policy measures, or foundational pillars.
He identified these as;
- Strong partnerships
- Strategic investments
- A renewed emphasis on equipping plants
- And perhaps most critically: a break from the culture of reactive maintenance
The Minister emphasized that historically, APUA operated under a “breakdown culture”—waiting until systems failed to act. However, the minister recalled that when he assumed his role in January 2023, he immediately requested a centralized reporting system.
There was none, he reported. No dashboard, no real-time data. Instead, he had a basic daily water report developed—a simple but powerful spreadsheet that now serves as the most important operational document.
The Minister emphasized how ‘daily tracking of production by site’—from Ffryes Bay to Fort James—has empowered leadership to make timely decisions, optimize plant output, and identify gaps.
Minister Nicholas received praise for improvements at the Antigua Public Utilities Authority (APUA), particularly in water production. However, he was quick to caution that there’s still a long way to go.
While acknowledging that APUA’s recent milestone of achieving nine million gallons of daily water production is commendable, the Minister conceded that persistent inefficiencies, especially coordination issues between APUA and the Ministry of Works. He noted that the recurring challenge of newly constructed roads being dug up shortly afterward due to utility installations was cited as an example of systemic misalignment.
