— Banks DIH, Fire Service and BK step in to help situation

BANKS DIH Limited, BK Quarries and the Guyana Fire Service have stepped in to provide much-needed water to the residents of the Five Miles Housing Scheme as the extended dry season continues.

On Saturday, Banks DIH handed over 20 five gal of bottled water to the Bartica Mayor and Town Council for distribution to residents of Five Miles.

For weeks, residents of the affected community have had limited access to potable water due to the extended dry season.

Additionally, the Guyana Fire Service Bartica Branch assisted the Town Council in providing water for domestic purposes to the affected residents, however, due to the poor state of the main access road leading to the community, it will not be able to continue.

As such, BK Quarries has agreed to partner with the municipality to have water supplied Wednesdays and Saturdays until the dry season is over.

“As mayor, I applaud the stakeholders’ support. It is my belief that the objective of a better life for all needs the support of all stakeholders to make it a success,” Bartica’s Mayor Gifford Marshall told the Guyana Chronicle.

“The benefits of corporate social responsibility are always life-changing,” he added, while expressing “heartfelt thanks” to those who have been working tirelessly to ease the plight of the residents.

Over the past two weeks, the mayor and Town Council has been providing water to residents, but single handedly, it had proven to be a very expensive venture. On a weekly basis, it cost the Council approximately $400,000 to supply the residents with water. Despite its limited finance, Marshall told this newspaper it was a necessary move.

Situated five miles from Central Bartica along the Potaro Road in the Cuyuni-Mazaruni District, the housing scheme lacks basic necessities, not just water but also electricity and healthcare services.

Given the situation, the Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) had signalled its intention to drill two wells in the area, one at Three Miles, Bartica and the other between Three and Five Miles, Bartica.

“The intention is that those wells will bring some amount of relief to the people of Five Miles Housing Scheme. But in the meantime, Council would have to put some resources towards getting water to the residents because we have an extended dry season going on and we can’t afford to let the residents go through this any longer,” the mayor explained.

Commenting on the water situation, Ramchand Jailall, GWI’s Planning and Implementation Director said GWI had encountered difficulties while drilling the well.

“They (have) encountered heavy rock formation. So now they are upgrading the rig so they could go back to continue drilling because it is not clay, it is rock, so they now have to penetrate through those rocks to determine if there is water-bearing stratum below those rocks,” Jailall had explained.

According to him, within two to three weeks, GWI will be able to determine if there is water-bearing stratum in the identified area. If the exercise proves to be futile, Jailall said another area would have to be selected.