RESIDENTS of two villages in Region Seven, namely Kartabo and Itaballi, will soon have their potable water needs addressed, via a project expected to be completed by the end of 2015. 

The project is being implemented by the Basic Needs Trust Fund (BNTF); this is the Project Implementation Unit of the Ministry of Finance and its flagship poverty reduction programme of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB).
Project Manager of BNTF, Michael Singh, in an interview with the Government Information Agency (GINA), indicated that the projects were already approved by the CDB and they are in their final stages.
He added that the project entails the digging of a 200 feet shallow well, and it includes an overhead storage and photovoltaic system that will be linked to a submersible pump.
“The pump in the well will be powered by solar…the pump will send water to the storage, then by gravity feed, we will have about five standpipes at strategic points in the areas, so residents can benefit,” Singh said.
It is further expected that government buildings, such as Health Centres and schools, will have direct connections to the water supply.
“These villages were selected as a result of our needs assessment, where we collaborate with the Guyana Water Inc. They had identified these two areas… as areas urgently in need of this intervention,” Singh explained.
He further explained that in this 7th cycle, there are eighteen water supply projects that will be executed countrywide, particularly in Regions 9, 3 and 2; more so, the funds are already committed for the execution of these projects.
“We also have attached to the sub-project infrastructure…a training in Water and Sanitation, where we partner with the Guyana Water Inc. and the Environmental Protection Agency, and teach about safe water, the treatment of the water…we also left a chlorination kit with the communities, so they will be able to know how to treat water with chlorine, for residents to have safe water to drink,” Singh said.
Operations Officer of the CDB and Supervisor of the BNTF Guyana Project Karl Pivot, explained that the BNTF programme is targeted at poverty reduction.
“…We go in the communities, identify where the poverty is…the most needy and we put intervention in those communities, to ensure that the beneficiaries of those intervention…their lives are changed,” Pivot said.
GINA also spoke to Pivot and team on their return from an inspection in the two villages (Kartabo and Itaballi), and he explained that the purpose of his visit was to ensure that projects were delivered on time, the designs are as approved and the funds are being spent as agreed.
Pivot added that whilst in the country, he will visit a random sample of projects, to ensure they are progressing as planned, after which he will report on their status to the Bank. “This programme is a grant programme, they are contributors…who use taxpayers’ money to provide this funding, so we have to ensure that taxpayers’ money is spent, and there are positive outcomes from them,” Pivot explained. He added that negotiations will commence early 2016, for the 9th cycle of the BNTF, and it is hoped that the cycle will receive a similar allocation (US$46M) which will allow more projects to be done.
The Basic Needs Trust Fund of the Caribbean Development Bank has the following countries as beneficiaries for the programme: Belize; Dominica, St. Vincent and the Grenadines; St. Lucia; Grenada; Guyana; Jamaica; St Kitts & Nevis; Montserrat ; and Turks & Caicos Islands.
Guyana started benefiting from this programme during its third cycle in 1993, which saw a number of projects in the education, water, and health sectors. The Lethem and Mabaruma hospitals, Diamond Nursery School, Number 77 Nursery School and Ithaca Nursery Schools were some of the projects undertaken over the years.