The Cook Islands Government has awarded an $11.2 million contract to local company Landholdings Limited.
Local company Landholdings Limited has been awarded a $11.2 million contact to undertake work to improve the resilience of the public water supply ring main.
Financial Secretary Garth Henderson said that independent engineering assessments, following extensive network and materials testing, indicated a need to undertake some further work on the most critical sections of the network, where resilience is particularly important.
“We are pleased to be awarding this work to Landholdings a local company, which has in-depth knowledge of the water supply network and an excellent track record.”
Landholdings Limited has successfully completed an earlier contract to connect the water supply sub-main from private and commercial properties to the new ring mains around Rarotonga.
The project is projected to take about eight months to complete, with work due to start next month.
Quality control measures will be put in place to ensure all work adheres to international standards.
“The ring main network sections identified as a priority are Muri/Avana and Nikao/Arorangi", Mr Henderson said.
“The Muri/Avana section is a priority because the pipeline through Muri is a single pipe link providing water from Avana intake to the south and west.
“The Nikao/Arorangi section is a priority because the ring main on the inner road behind the airport is a single critical link from Avatiu intake to the Nikao and Arorangi area.”
This work will provide a 100-year design life for these critical sectors of the network.
In addition to this work, the Government will implement a long term operational and maintenance strategy to safeguard network performance and provide resilience to any future failure and loss of supply.
The work will help complete the important task of upgrading Rarotonga’s water systems to provide safe and reliable water to our communities.