PROVIDING an adequate supply of potable water is a global challenge for various reasons, including lack of resources, poor planning and development strategies and, in many cases, downright ineptitude by governments.
As a result, the health of a large number of people throughout the world, but more pronounced in the developing countries, has been compromised causing deaths and outbreaks of many kinds of water-borne diseases.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the safety of and accessibility to drinking water are major concerns throughout the world. Health risks may arise from consumption of water contaminated with infectious agents, toxic chemicals and radiological hazards.
Improving access to safe drinking water can result in tangible improvements to health.
In 2006, water-borne diseases were estimated to cause 1.8 million deaths each year while about 1.1 billion people lacked proper drinking water. It is clear that people in the developing world need to have access to good quality water in sufficient quantities, water purification technology and availability and distribution systems for water.
In many parts of the world the only sources of water are small streams often directly contaminated by sewage.
There was a period in this country when people could be seen almost daily, fetching water to their homes, particularly in the rural communities, as the potable water supply system had virtually collapsed, because of a lack of maintenance and upgrading and expansion to meet the increasing demand for potable water.
This daily toil took a lot of time and in some cases a lot of money because, some people lived so far away from the source of water that they had to hire vehicles to transport water to their homes. Schoolchildren lost valuable study time as they assisted their parents and in the process too a few of them lost their lives in road accidents which occurred while they were fetching water.
Today, while the situation is still not perfect, it has dramatically improved as there have been huge investments in the water sector to expand and modernise the supply system across the country. And only those who wish to bury their heads in the sand, like the proverbial ostrich, would deny that the situation has improved tremendously compared to what it was about two decades ago.
Despite the challenge of scarce resources, the government has been working feverishly to expand and modernise water supply systems with several projects already completed, others ongoing and many others on the drawing board, including those for hinterland communities.
One of the most recent completed projects is the $55M well station at Somerset on the Essequibo Coast, projected to benefit 5,000 consumers.
At the commissioning ceremony, Housing and Water Minister Irfaan Ali emphasised the importance of sustaining the existing water system and implored the residents present to recognise their role in preserving the assets.
This is a most pertinent exhortation as experience has shown that many times citizens misuse and even damage facilities that have been established for their own benefit and those who do this do not seem to realise that everyone suffers. At the same time services are disrupted, in some instances for lengthy periods, scarce financial resources have to be spent on repairs.
The minister also said the facility he was commissioning and other such facilities stand as testimony to the government’s commitment to the equitable distribution of resources throughout the country and, as such, continued improvement within the sector will, eventually, take it to the required state.
The facts speak for themselves in relation to the government’s unswerving commitment towards improving the water supply system in every community in Guyana.