BASSETERRE, Saint Kitts – Just one day before the start of April 2026, Saint Kitts’ Minister responsible for water services Konris Maynard made a pressing public appeal to residential and commercial water consumers across the island: clear the $28 million in accumulated outstanding payments owed to the national Water Services Department, to support the government’s ongoing large-scale investment to improve universal water access.
Maynard shared the unprecedented $28 million arrears figure during an address to the National Assembly on March 31, noting that the region’s lowest household water rates have created a damaging cycle of delayed payment for many consumers. Many users treat low monthly bills as an excuse to put off payments, a habit that adds up month after month until the outstanding balance grows so large that many households can no longer afford to clear their debt in one payment.
“People think, ‘Water is so cheap, it’s only $20, I’ll pay it next month,’” Maynard told legislators, referencing the common attitude that has driven the massive backlog.
To accommodate consumers facing genuine financial hardship, the Water Services Department has introduced flexible, customized payment plans that allow users to pay down their balance incrementally. Minister Maynard emphasized that the policy is rooted in empathy, not punishment: any payment, regardless of size, will keep an account active and avoid service disconnection, even if it does not cover the full outstanding amount. Consumers who owe arrears are strongly encouraged to reach out to department staff in person or online to arrange a schedule that fits their budget. Only accounts that remain unpaid for more than 90 days with no arrangement in place will face interruption of service.
The appeal for arrears repayment comes as the current administration advances a multi-year project to restore reliable 24/7 water access across Saint Kitts, a goal it says was left unaddressed by years of neglect and inadequate planning under the previous government. Since taking office in 2022, the administration has allocated millions of dollars to upgrade the island’s water network: two new desalination plants have been completed and brought online, a new production well has been drilled in Cayon, new elevated water storage facilities have been constructed, and thousands of feet of aged, leaking underground pipes have been replaced. Currently, exploratory drilling is underway at a promising site in Saddlers, which could add more capacity to the national water supply in the coming months.