RESIDENTS of Amelia’s Ward, Linden will soon benefit from a more reliable source of water supply, as the Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI), is preparing to drill an additional well in the community.

Speaking with the Guyana Chronicle, GWI Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Dr. Van-West Charles related that the company is drilling a number of wells around the country and Amelia’s Ward was chosen as one of the locations.

Amelia’s Ward is one of the largest communities in Guyana and its population has increased rapidly with the establishment of new schemes. There are already two wells in Amelia’s Ward and this additional well is expected to serve the growing population more adequately. Residents of Amelia’s Ward do not benefit from water supply every day as the present system, cannot meet the demand of the growing population.

At the recently held government outreach in Linden, residents, particularly those of the Amelia’s Ward new schemes, complained about the situation to the visiting ministers.
GWI had made previous strides to provide regular water supply to the residents of Linden through a US $412.3M Linden Water Supply Rehabilitation Programme.

However, as a result of structural and implementation faults that have emerged during execution of the project, this did not happen. The company was looking for ways to correct this and had met the regional officials to discuss plans on the way forward. This would result in GWI pumping millions of dollars into Linden’s water system, to complete the work at the desirable level.

The move to drill an additional well in Linden was welcomed by regional officials and residents. Constituency Representative of Amelia’s Ward, Lawrence Simon, said the initiative is welcomed by him and he believes that it is better to drill a well than to construct a new plant.

“You know, for me, I would welcome it due to the technical specification. The plant was not able to supply Amelia’s Ward, so I think GWI moving in this direction, is very welcomed and it will be able to offset some of the water problems in Amelia’s Ward,” he said.
Member of Parliament, Jermaine Figueira, expressed similar sentiments and said that such moves are a representation of the good life promised by President Granger and his administration, which should be enjoyed by all Guyanese, to access standard services such as water supply and electricity.

Resident of Central Amelia’s Ward, Jonnell Drakes, said she is happy about the move, since she is in the business of poultry rearing which demands a regular water supply.
In the recently-concluded dry season, Drakes said she suffered tremendously on the days that water was not running, as there was no rainfall to fill some of the drums in her yard.
The move to drill an additional well in Linden was welcomed by regional officials and residents. Only last week, GWI completed drilling a well in Nappi, Region Nine, which is expected to benefit 700 residents.