Kartabu villagers lament serious lack of potable water
RESIDENTS of Kartabu, at the confluence of Mazaruni and Cuyuni rivers in Region 7 (Cuyuni/Mazaruni) are experiencing serious difficulties in obtaining potable water. They said it is due to a state of pollution of the Cuyuni River and blamed that on the operations of gold and diamond miners, particularly those using river dredges.
A lifelong resident of the village, which has a population of about 90 persons, said, up to the early 1990s, the Cuyuni was their main source of water for domestic use.
But, since then, gold and diamond mining along the river has polluted it to the extent that, nowadays, they dare not utilise the water even for bathing.
“You take a bucket of water from the river and you can see the dirt in it settling at the bottom. You take a chance and bathe with the river water and your skin will itch for days,” one complainant said.
The man said, apart from rainfall, from which they collect in containers, a white water creek and a well at the primary school, both some distance inland away from the village, are the only other sources of potable water.
“When the stored rainfall water runs out, we encounter severe problems,” the villager said.

Dilemma
He said one solution to their dilemma is for them to be given large capacity drums, in which they can keep larger quantities of rainfall water.
Other people who live further along the Cuyuni have been in receipt of such containers from which they use for domestic purposes.
The Kartabu villager declared they do not understand why they were overlooked when the tanks were being distributed.
Another way their inconvenience could be alleviated is by piping the water from the white water creek, three miles away, to an overhead facility near the village and attach lines to standpipes near to their homes, he said.
He said, in the interim, their hardship prevails because rainfall has proven to be unpredictable.
However, they are hoping that the Regional Administration and/or Central Government will take steps to ameliorate their situation before the start of the next dry season.