IT was at the opening of the Guyana Water Inc’s (GWI) new sub-office in the Lotus Mall, Parika, East Bank Essequibo on February 18, 2018, that its Managing-Director, Dr. Richard Van-West Charles assured residents that the GWI is moving aggressively to ensure it becomes the best utility company in the Caribbean. But residents have still been experiencing issues with water discolouration and other matters and hope that this can be rectified soon.

Said Dr. Van-West Charles, “This year [2018], GWI is focusing on having a strategic relationship with Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDCs) throughout the country.” As such, he said he expects the staff at the new office (at Parika) to be involved in NDC meetings to garner feedback from customers in order to provide and improve service delivery throughout the country.

The managing-director also stressed the importance of a fixed presence in the community and working with members of the community and organs of the NDC.

Dr Van-West Charles remarked that the company has seen a tremendous response from customers in the reporting of leaks and conceded that they now have a greater understanding of the negative impact of leaks on their water pressure, flow and quality. For this reason, he said he expects the staff at the new office to be involved.

Meanwhile, the GWI urged customers to ensure that their taps are properly turned off and that they report leaks and breakages.

Nevertheless, residents are now expressing dissatisfaction with the low pressure of water coming through their taps, adding that there are times when they turn on their taps and do not get water at all. This, they say, has led to some residents apparently breaking the mains. As such, there are several breakages along the line – a situation they would like the GWI to address urgently, since the possibility of the water in the mains becoming contaminated looms large.

Another area of concern, residents say, is the discolouration of the water and iron deposits on the surface when they eventually get it. They claim that they have made complaints, but the situation remains the same. One resident claimed that he reported his concern to the Pouderoyen office, but was told to go back to Parika, since Parika now has an office.
Executives of the Parika Façade Neighbourhood Democratic Council are however optimistic that should the GWI and the CDC work hand in hand, there will be hope for the Parika East Bank Essequibo office becoming the best GWI utility service in Guyana. They are now mooting the idea of having sensitisation workshops run off, to educate residents about ‘safe water’ and the health threats caused by leaking water mains.

This newspaper attempted to get a response from the Public Relations Department at Parika about leaks in the mains and discolouration of water, but was referred to the Engineer in Charge of the Parika area.

He, in turn, advised that they are not allowed to address complaints. All such complaints should be addressed to the Public Relations Department at the Georgetown head office. That, however, was an exercise in futility.