RESIDENTS of Manchester, Lancaster and Liverpool, located in East Berbice-Corentyne, Region Six, are now accessing potable water, following the commissioning of a new well at Manchester.

The well was constructed at a cost of $90.4M by Water and Oil Wells Service Corporation Limited, and has a depth of 310 meters and a pump performance of 2.6 cubic metres per minute, the equivalent of 75 ‘black-tanks’ of water per hour.

Minister of Housing and Water, Mr Irfaan Ali; Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Guyana Water Inc., Mr Shaik Baksh; and Region Six Chairman, Mr Permaul Armogan were among attendees of the commissioning on Friday.
Minister Ali spoke of the importance of development and its continuity, noting that there was a time when the housing programme was non-existent. “But today,” he said, “we have a housing programme, which has moved the age of ownership from an average of 57 years to 34 years… There was a time when interest rates for homes were close to 40%; today you can get interest rate for housing at 4.2%. And there was a time when we had 0% coverage for treated water; today, we have close to 50% coverage of treated water.”
While the goal is to take treated water coverage to 60% in the short-term, Minister Ali noted that to achieve this, there is need for continuity of the development agenda, policy and predictability.
He said that even as the well was being commissioned, the way forward was also being planned, with a priority to ensure that every Guyanese has access to treated water.

INVESTMENT IN REGION SIX

Minister Ali noted that in Region Six alone, the Government has invested a total of $6 billion, with a per capita of nearly $50,000 per person, towards the development of such major projects as the construction of new water treatment plants in Number 56 and Queenstown; and the installation of transmission mains in Skeldon; Number 74 to 75; Number 61 to 62; Letter Kenny, Adventure to Alness, Fyrish, Black Bush Polder, Canefield, Whim and Manchester.
There was an upgrade to distribution systems in Number 51 to 73 Village; Number One Road to Whim; Whim to Bush Lot; Goed Bananen Land; Number One to Number 50 Village; Number 67 to Crabwood Creek; and Glasgow to Edinburg.
Other projects include the drilling of a new well in Canefield, Rosehall and Number 47 village, distribution upgrade in Angoy’s Avenue, transmission main in Mibicuri to Lesbeholden and Canefield to Reliance, among other areas.
Additionally, work is at present ongoing in Angoy’s Avenue, where 500 residents will benefit from improved water service.

Minister Ali also noted that the contract has already been signed for the construction of a new water treatment plant to cover villages from Sheet Anchor, Number 19 to Goed Bananen Land for which construction is expected to commence during this year, benefiting some 15,000 residents. According to the Minister, this will take the coverage of water in the region to 65%.

OVERALL TRANSFORMATION
Over the past 15 years, the water sector has seen significant transformation in the different regions where more people are receiving improved service across the country, inclusive of hinterland regions. Among the areas of priority were construction of new water treatment plants, drilling of new wells, upgrading of distribution networks and service connections and installation of photovoltaic system and gravity feet systems in the hinterland.
More than $20 billion has been invested in this sector with a per capita investment of nearly $30,000 per household over the period.
These investments resulted in the construction of seven new water treatment plants to increase coverage, drilling of 25 new potable water wells, rehabilitation of distribution and transmission networks, rehabilitation of sewer systems in Georgetown, and in the hinterland, development, inclusive of the construction of gravity feed systems, installation of photo voltaic systems and drilling of medium depth wells to improve service.
The impact of this investment has been tremendous, in that access to potable water increased from 26% to 50%, service was provided for in excess of 100,000 people for the first time, coverage to hinterland increased from 25% to 80% and coverage on the coast increase from less than 70% to 95% at present. Meter coverage increased from 25% to 50% while a total of 25,000 pensioners are also being subsidised by Government.
In 2014, the rehabilitation of the Georgetown sewer system was completed as promised. Two new water treatment plants are under construction in Linden which will be completed in March 2015.
A new loan is being implemented to construct new water treatment plants at Uitvlugt, Region 3, Diamond, Region 4 and Sheet Anchor, Region 6 and expand the treatment plants in Georgetown to increase the treated water coverage. This will intimately result in the improved standard of living for citizens. (GINA)