THE Guyana Water Inc (GWI) is to intensify its house-to-house campaign to define metering on every household, in an effort to curb illegal connections.The GWI Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Dr. Richard Van West-Charles, told the Guyana Chronicle that illegal connections are causing both water loss and leaks in the system.
Elaborating on GWI’s plans in an exclusive interview done at his office on Thursday last, Dr Van West-Charles added that the water entity is concurrently seeking partnerships with citizens, so that access is not denied to meter readers during those GWI house-to-house visits.
He said, “I believe that people are aware they have to pay for water they use, and we want to ensure that we have a human face and to have our services delivered in a friendly manner. We understand people do have difficulties at times, and we are going to look at times when there will be disconnections. I know that people have had the experience of being disconnected on Fridays and they are without water on weekends. We are going to stop that.”
DEBT COLLECTION
Dr. Van West-Charles explained that if GWI determines that a person’s service must be disconnected, that disconnection will take place on Monday morning, thereby giving that person some time to pay, because the product is very critical to one’s health. “Once you can pay that bill very quickly, you will be connected,” he promised.
The ‘Wallet-Friendly Payment Plan’ is still available to customers, and is still being utilised, but GWI will also take action with its debt collection initiative, he added.
The CEO disclosed that GWI has a significant sum outstanding, and wants to have that sum addressed very quickly, thus the company will be looking at re-payment plans, etc; but recalcitrant customers and those who indulge in illegal connections throughout the system will be subjected to necessary actions and sanctions from the water company.
Dr. Van West-Charles said, “We have a range of people in debt…some large unnamed entities, and we will engage them in talks within a week or so, to move in this process.”
ACCESS TO POTABLE WATER
In this vein, the CEO said he has already asked divisional managers to give him a status report with respect to the schools in their community and the access to water to flush toilets within those schools.
He has also asked for a report on the restaurants and health facilities that exist in the regions, and their access to water as well, since GWI is supposed to be providing 24-hour access to potable water, especially to hospitals.
Dr. Van West-Charles said GWI will be working closely with the Ministry of Health in tackling water-borne diseases and the reduction of those diseases in respect to morbidity and mortality.
FINANCIAL VIABILITY
He said GWI has to ensure it has the efficiencies to collect on its outstanding debts, and that people likewise have the resources to pay.
“I think we have to ensure we produce a good product, so it will give people the confidence to pay. We will work in every way to make that happen and I want to ensure, as quickly as possible, that the water quality analysis gets going across the board.”
He disclosed that he is in discussion with a Guyanese microbiologist out of Canada to have the GWI laboratory accredited and brought up to standard, so the quality of water and waste water produced is up to internationally acceptable standard.
The CEO explained that once GWI can deliver a good service, people will pay.
WATER PRESSURE
He told this newspaper that the other issue which will be addressed is the water pressure, linked to water loss due to leaks. The company has the capacity to correct same, and it can be tapped collectively.
The CEO said GWI personnel will pool their knowledge to resolve water problems in the country. GWI engineers are to be trained in that aspect, and Guyanese engineers in the diaspora who have experience in water and waste water management will be sourced to connect with GWI’s local engineers.
He disclosed that collaboration between local and overseas-based engineers will, through brain-storming efforts, result in knowledge transfer and the successful resolution of many of the problems at GWI. The principles that will guide GWI in this cooperation are basically equity, good governance, a corruption-free environment, and high quality output.
GWI will ensure the staff can function in a comfortable environment and be respected. They will be able to offer criticisms and recommendations, which will be taken into consideration in a real way.
The CEO said he has since met the union representative of GWI, and has indicated to him his orientation of respecting labour and working with labour to ensure a contribution to the quality of life of all employees.
HINTERLAND WATER
Dr. Van West-Charles told this newspaper that the hinterland is also an area of focus, and the GWI will be meeting with officials of the Ministry of Ingenious Affairs to hold in-depth discussion about the situation.
He remarked that President David Granger has clearly said there should be equity in the quality of life between urban and rural areas, and as a physician, he believes that is right.
The CEO said, “I have already signalled that aspect to senior management as an important goal we will strive to meet.”
He said that, under his watch, GWI will be an organisation which would be providing quality service, where people can drink water straight out of the tap; and added that GWI will be giving guidance to people on how to do preventive maintenance to their septic tanks, because that is linked in a way where flooding is concerned.
He stressed that septic tanks are normally not properly cleaned, and GWI will have to look at giving guidance on how often those tanks can be cleaned, until GWI can totally address the loss reduction issue with water pressure.
He said the GWI is expecting to go into the various areas as it seeks to ensure the public is informed of its movements in terms of maintenance or preventive works.
By Michel Outridge
