By Tamica Garnett
SEVERAL Sophia pensioners are beneficiaries of a project being undertaken by the Ministry of Communities (MoC) Sanitation Management Unit that is converting a number of pit latrines to septic tanks.

Some 30 residents are benefitting from this timely initiative.
“We’re more comfortable, more relaxed and the environment is healthier, so it’s very good. I had it in mind to get it done but circumstances, so when it was advertised I made an application and I’m happy that I was successful,” noted 80- year-old Anthony Bancroft, who lives in Sophia with his wife and three children.
Bancroft has been living in Sophia for the past 10 years.

MoC Sanitation Management Unit, Senior Engineer, Shafeek Ali, explained that the project is an extension of an earlier project, whereby the Guyana Water Inc. (GWI) had constructed a number of septic tank facilities and water treatment plants. These were done under the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) funded “Water Supply and Sanitation Infrastructure Improvement Programme”.

“It’s what we call ‘on site waste water treatment’; the ordinary person would refer to it as a septic tank. The GWI as part of their IDB-funded project would have had to upgrade 1000 pit latrines to septic tanks, but they would’ve had 150 persons from Sophia that they could not have constructed for because of the availability of funds. So the ministry, because we are prompting proper sanitation, decided to take up the mantle and construct for those persons that they could not have constructed for,” Ali explained.
Also among the recipients is Indroutie Looknauth, 75, who could not contain her joy of receiving a better system.

“It is very good, I feel happy about it because I’m a big woman, I’m 75 years. It is wonderful that they do it, I am happy that they do it because I had pit latrine in the yard and when it full you got problem, you got to think about making a next one, but now this is permanent,” Looknauth conveyed.

THANKFUL
Having applied under the GWI programme and not getting through, Looknauth thought she would never have been able to get the facility, so she was grateful that the government decided to step in for those who did not receive. Looknauth shared that over the years, struggling financially had made it difficult for her to find the necessary funds to build the facility, notwithstanding her need for one.
“I had financial problem, I was a single parent and I was working as a domestic worker. Is my son apply for me, he seh mommy leh we apply for it,” she shared.
The cost per unit varies for different households; however, Ali said altogether the units are an average of $600,000 per unit.

“These septic systems included the two chambers septic tank, filter box, a toilet and a hand washing sink, so it’s a complete system for what we would term high risk, low income individuals, persons who could not have constructed it on their own. Currently, we have five contractors in Sophia and they’re constructing a total of 15 septic tanks. After that first phase, we will go into the second one to look at another 15. Given our budget constraints we will have to wait until next year to continue with the rest,” he said. The MoC started work in mid-October and it is expected to be completed by the end of November.

PROPER SANITISATION
The MoC decided to take on the project as a part of the department’s wider programme on the promotion of proper sanitation in all areas.

“It is hoped that at the end of the project, the increase in sanitation will help us achieve our Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Six, which talks about access to universal sanitation. So as it is that what we’re actually looking at, at this time,” Ali said.
The project is also part of the unit’s push to bring about awareness of new septic tank building standards that have been implemented by the Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS).

“Recently, the GNBS would’ve updated the septic tank code and it gives various specifications like you need to have minimum two chambers and a filter box. The purpose of that would’ve been birthed out of a workshop held in Antigua in 2017,” Ali explained.
“A lot of persons, the contractors, would’ve been building the septic tanks incorrectly. So apart from these septic systems we’re constructing in Sophia, we’re also conducting waste water training and solid waste training in the local democratic organs across the country, to bring them up to par with the new standards in place. One of the simple change for example, they have removed the vent pipes on the septic tanks because it encourages the breeding of mosquitos. Also the septic tank is an anaerobic process, which means it occurs in the absence of oxygen, so if you have a vent pipe on the system you’re introducing oxygen into the system and the micro-organisms cannot function how they should.”
Ali highlighted that the project also comes with the criteria that ensure citizens from within Sophia also benefit from employment in the exercise.

“The contractors are local individuals from right within Sophia, spread across all five fields from A to E, and they would be employing local personnel from Sophia also. So it’s not only improving the sanitation situation in Sophia, but also providing some amount of employment for locals in the area,” Ali said.