THE new $55M Diamond well station was officially commissioned yesterday by President Bharrat Jagdeo as the government continues to make massive water sector improvements across the country.

President Bharrat Jagdeo applauds as Adian Rajkumar of the Covent Garden Secondary School snips the ribbon to officially declare the well station open. Looking on are Minister Irfaan Ali and other officials. (Photo by Adrian Narine)

Located at Sixth Street, Diamond Housing Scheme, East Bank Demerara, the well was funded by the Basic Needs Trust Fund (BNTF) and began full operation since October, significantly enhancing the level of service provided to over 4,000 residents within the rapidly developing scheme.

The contracting firm Water and Oils Wells Contracting Services Limited performed all operations with regard to the drilling of the well, under the supervision of the Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) and CEMCO.

Erection of the parameter fence and other minor works were funded by GWI, in excess of $10M.

Delivering the feature address, Head of State President Bharrat Jagdeo said, “I am extremely pleased to be here to share these joyous moments with you, particularly for the community, because by the commissioning of this facility and by this investment, they would be assured better quality service from GWI.”

He said this is basically what it is about, since Governments are elected to serve people, noting, “And every single day that they are in office, they have to ensure that they improve the quality of the service and the access to service that they give to people.”

He insisted that it is a process because “nothing could be done immediately”, to move from a situation where there was dilapidated infrastructure to a perfect situation.

He maintained that some very definitive policy initiatives have led the country to where it is today and the policy initiatives range from getting rid of the burden of debt to the prudent management of not only fiscal but monetary affairs, and stabilising the macro economy.

He said although there is a global crisis, Guyana has the highest national reserves ever in its history and one of the lowest inflation rates, and also the mortgage financing has come down.

“It was impossible for many people to own homes, apart from the fact that they did not have access to land, although we have so much land in our country,” he stated.

He asserted, “And if there is one success story that we have had, it is the phenomenal growth in the housing sector since we assumed office.”

President Jagdeo said it is not just about houses, it is about creating a community, and a major focus included building the necessary facilities that would create the community, including the school and medical facility.

The Head of State noted the phenomenal growth in the area “which the administration is hoping to give township status to some time in the future”.

“Between the people living here and Grove, the older communities, if you combine them, you probably have more people than some of our existing towns in the country,” he said.

“It is a very interesting history of how this community has evolved, and I am very pleased with what I see today,” he expressed.

The Head of State reiterated that it is a process which is being replicated right across the country and alluded to the recent commissioning of the Linden Hospital Complex last Wednesday and other huge investments that can be seen in Linden, East Coast of Demerara, Berbice and Essequibo.

“It is not easy, as I said before, to do this and at the same time maintain a stable economy particularly when there is a global financial crisis,” he noted.

He pointed out that Guyana is expanding its housing stock when some countries are losing theirs and people are now moving from ‘home owners to the street or to having to rent’.

President Jagdeo cited the United States where some ten million people have lost their homes.

He also alluded to the extension of a preferential tax treatment to the commercial banks in exchange for bringing down their interest rates, noting, “Because we want every family in this country to own their own home.

He also urged all to work together to ensure that “we are not shortsighted” in the future and lamented, “I think we landed into trouble in the past because government was short-sighted.”

The Head of State said at the Government level, they are working to ensure that there are major initiatives that will catapult the country’s development forward.

Alluding to certain media reports, he said, “I would urge our people to be much more sensible than some of these newspapers.”

“We have an exciting future ahead of us and we have to face this united, all of these attempts to divide us by religion and race and everything else, we have to fight them off together because this country belongs to all of us,” he told the gathering.

Another milestone

Addressing the gathering, Minister of Housing and Water Mr. Irfaan Ali said the commissioning of the facility is another milestone for the Government.

He recalled that earlier this year, when countries throughout the Caribbean and globally were suffering from a serious financial crisis, the country saw a budget that sought to expand its social sector spending because the administration believes strongly in providing services such as water, education and health in a “equitable manner to all Guyanese”.

Minister Ali insisted that the benefit of one such expenditure is being seen in Diamond.

“Those of us who live in this community would recall the hardship that you would have gone through in accessing potable water,” he underscored.

He recalled that just after taking office as Minister, the President giving very strong words in terms of transforming the water sector and interests in seeing people having better access to water, specifically identified the Diamond community as one that required intervention at that time.

“We are very happy that we can deliver to you the people as a Government this service today,” Minister Ali said.

He said the Government is still expanding the infrastructure base of the country noting, “We are doing this in an incremental way; simultaneously whilst we are having a strong development in the housing sector, we are also having strong simultaneous critical investment in the health sector, in the water sector and in the economy to match the growth that housing creates.”

Minister Ali stated that it is a very planned development pathway that is being implemented.

Turning to the community of Diamond, he said apart from the improved water supply and the Diamond diagnostic centre, there are economic opportunities that would be generated with the opening of new banks, service stations and other major commercial activities beginning to unfold in the community.

“It is a very holistic development agenda that the Government is implementing for the benefit of every single Guyanese,” he stated.

He said today, the water sector is seeing results of a turnaround plan that was developed a few years ago which sought to identify the critical investment required to change the level of service and quality of water provided to the people of the country.

Ali disclosed that this year, for example, in excess of $4B has been spent in the water sector and the $70M expended in Diamond is one component of the more than $455M that is being invested on the East Bank.

Alluding to the issue of the wastage of water, he said this investment is an investment for all the people who must all have a sense of ownership of it.

“It belongs to each and every one of us equally and we must therefore safeguard and protect the investment because you know more than anyone else how difficult it is to be without water,” he reminded.

“We must also understand that the reality of global changes, global warming and environmental changes also would place pressure on even a country like Guyana, land of many waters, in the delivery of potable water,” he outlined.

He insisted that the issue of conservation must be dealt with now and must start with a change in culture in the way water is used.

The minister noted that metering is not to make consumers pay more money but is to help them to conserve water and utilise water that is necessary for their sustenance.

Minister Ali emphasised that the service is subsidised by more than 400 per cent by the Government stating, “We are not paying the true market cost of this water and this is because of the caring nature of the Government.”

Further, he said that the well is also created for a 50 per cent expansion in terms of the network and number of persons it would have to serve.

He disclosed that in another few weeks, the Lusignan well on the East Bank of Demerara is to be commissioned.

Also delivering remarks were BNTF Programme Manager, Mr. Michael Singh; Chairman of Grove/Diamond Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC), Mr. Omar Khan; and GWI Director of Capital Investment and Planning, Mr. Altaf Gaffor, who all reiterated the importance and value of this basic necessity and the responsibility of the residents to care the service and conserve water.