Dasent's well still not finished 21 months after drilling began, as cave-ins slow NIA water programme
The Nevis Island Administration says drilling at Dasent's has resumed after repeated cave-ins and a stuck casing, but has given no new cost, depth or completion date for the well.
CHARLESTOWN, Nevis. Drilling for a new groundwater source at Dasent's in Gingerland has restarted after a series of setbacks, the Nevis Island Administration (NIA) said in a statement on 6 November.
According to the NIA, the borehole suffered repeated cave-ins and crews spent considerable time recovering a casing that became stuck. The hole has since been cleaned out and a 10-inch casing is being put back in as work resumes.
The delay is notable given the timeline the administration itself set out. In January 2025 the NIA announced that drilling at Dasent's had started on 30 January that year, with the well expected to reach a depth of about 900 feet. Almost two years later the latest statement gives no depth reached, no revised completion date and no cost for the work.
Nine wells promised, three delivered
Premier Mark Brantley told the public in late 2024 and early 2025 that the drilling programme, carried out by the Trinidad-based firm Water and Oil Well Service, was contracted for nine wells. The NIA now reports two high-yielding wells completed at Maddens and one at Braziers, with the next site planned for the Church Ground area of Hamilton.
The stated goal has also shifted. In January 2025 the target was an extra 1.5 million gallons a day; the administration now speaks of 1.5 to 2 million additional gallons.
Mr Brantley said the drillers had kept going despite the problems and that he expected a "very high-yielding well" at Dasent's. He said Nevis maintained full 24-hour coverage throughout this year's drought.
Official figures put island production at about 2.3 million gallons a day against daily consumption of 1.5 to 1.7 million gallons, with 4 million gallons of storage. In November 2024 Mr Brantley said the wider water project had already taken seven or eight years and cost tens of millions of dollars. The NIA has not published an updated total cost for the drilling contract.
