RESIDENTS of the Canal Number One Conservancy area, as of Wednesday, are accessing potable water for the first time in their homes from the Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI).

This is in the aftermath of a visit by President Irfaan Ali, about a month ago, when a number of issues were brought to his attention. Dr. Ali committed to forwarding the issues to the different sector ministers.

On August 25, Housing and Water Minister, Collin Croal, along with Minister within the Ministry of Public Infrastructure, Deodat Indar, visited the area and interacted with residents to address their concerns.
After hearing of the water situation in the community, Minister Croal committed to making water accessible to the residents within a month.
Works in the area commenced almost immediately and residents are now appreciative of their new water connection which was delivered two days before the one month deadline.

In the past, residents of the area relied heavily on rainwater harvesting and water from the conservancy for daily use. During the dry season, persons were forced to walk long distances to fetch water and in other instances purchased water.
One resident, Soheni Sewkumar, who has been residing in the area for the past seven years, said she welcomes the new service as it will bring much ease to her family.
Seeta Sookram, another resident said she welcomes the new service, more so for her children.
“We use the conservancy water for everything or the children had to go fetch water from far, early in the morning so this will ease the children so they can focus on other things,” Sookram said.

Other residents who will receive their service connection within a matter of hours expressed similar sentiments, noting that they appreciate the efficiency with which the works were done.

The pipe-laying works commenced three weeks ago and saw a total of 1.5 Km of pipes being laid and some 42 individual service connections made to individual households.

The works were executed by GWI staff to the tune of approximately $3M.
Minister Croal visited the location with a technical team from GWI, which was headed by Executive Director of Operations, Dwayne Shako.
An assessment was done and it was found that the area could be served through a connection to the main distribution network from the Good Hope Pump Station, Canal Number One Road.