TWO communities of Region 10 – Numbers 47 and 58 Miles, within the next month, should benefit from improved water supply since the Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) is on a mission to resuscitate the inactive wells located in these communities.

Public Relations officer of GWI, Ms. Leanna Bradshaw, explained to the Guyana Chronicle that No. 58 currently has two wells, but the residents are not benefiting from these and therefore access to potable water is very difficult. One of the potable wells was built by the previous administration and has all of the necessary equipment attached, such as the photovoltaic system, but it was not drilled properly. “It did not go deep enough, so it never produced water, there was a rocky area so that never worked,” she revealed, adding that the other well was built by a Brazilian and is currently operating at half of its capacity.

GWI will be rehabilitating that well and will also install pipelines to residents’ homes. “We were informed that residents have to fetch water very far with this well, so we will be running pipelines to their homes,” Bradshaw said, further revealing that GWI will drill another well in the area since one will not be sufficient and the other available one cannot be resuscitated, given the rocky terrain in which it is located.

At No. 47 Miles, there are also two wells that are in a state of disrepair and therefore are not benefiting the community. “We will be installing photovoltaic systems and cleaning them and rehabilitating them and disinfecting them.” Bradshaw said. She said pipelines will not be installed however, given the great distance between homes. Bradshaw said that works are in the planning stages and when works do commence, it will take approximately one month to finish.

Regional Chairman, Renis Morian, during a recent press conference lauded GWI for positively responding to the plights of these communities and said that GWI has also promised to visit the communities of Rockstone and Coomacka that have been experiencing similar water challenges.

As it relates to Linden, GWI will also be pumping millions of dollars in correcting structural and implementation faults that have emerged during the executing of a US $412.3 M Linden Water Supply Rehabilitation Programme. Director of Project Implementation, Ramchand Jailal, said during a recent stakeholder meeting in Linden, that GWI will be pumping $60 M towards the Mackenzie plant and West Watooka plant, $60 M to remedy the filtration problem and another $20 M to remedy the distribution system. Other gaps to be addressed by GWI are the non-revenue water reduction program, installation of water meters for all customers and the replacement of mains in Christianburg, Wisroc, Half Mile and Canvas City.