AFTER years of paying $5,000 and $10,000 per tank of water to service their needs, residents of Five Miles, Bartica, in Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni) are brimming with gratitude at news that the community is expected to receive potable water piped to their homes within the next two months, in time for the Christmas holidays.
The project is being carried out under the $50 million allocated to Guyana Water Inc. (GWI) for the expansion of the Bartica Water Supply System. The small Five Miles community currently consists of some 60 households, all of which are scheduled to benefit from the initiative.

Andreanna Teixeira, a 42-year-old mother of two, has been living in the community for some three years now, since the family was allotted a low-income house lot. She said the lack of water supply has been a financial strain on the family.

“It’s hard; very hard. If rain doesn’t fall, we have to buy the water for $5,000 a tank. A tank might last a week, or week-and-a-half, and when that tank finish, you have to buy again. Sometimes you buy two, three times a month,” Teixeira told the Guyana Chronicle.

Her sentiments were shared by fellow resident, Odessa Primus.
“I am happy about it; I am excited. I want to thank the Minister and whoever is a part of it, because we need it. Water is the most essential thing, and without it, it’s really hard. I thank God for this,” Primus conveyed.

More than anything, Primus is looking forward to being relieved of the financial strain her family endures to purchase water by the tank.
“We pay $10,000 per tank, and we have to buy that steady; it all depends on how the rain falls. If the rain falls, we have no need to buy water; but all like that dry-weather season, most of the time your money just going back to buying water. It’s been hard, because we are a family of seven persons; I have a baby also, so I use a lot of water,” she noted.
Primus has been living in the community for the past five years with her husband and five children.

“I’ve lived without water for five years, but I know some persons living in here without water for seven, eight years; since this Scheme opened,” Primus said.
The Five Miles community was among a list of areas in Bartica that was visited by Minister of Housing and Water, Collin Croal on Saturday for a series of community meetings, and to assess the current water situation, with the aim of addressing any concerns.

The Minister was accompanied on the visit by a team from GWI, including Director of Operations Dwayne Shako. Aside from assuring the community of the water being delivered to them before the end of 2020, the Minister spoke to the residents about the removal of the Value Added Tax (VAT) on water, and the subsidy for pensioners, both of which took effect this month.
According to a statement from the water company, distribution pipelines have already been laid in the community, while GWI will be installing a 12-inch transmission main to increase the water intake from the river, which will be filtered through the existing water treatment plant for distribution to the community.

The visit included a tour of the Bartica Water Treatment plant, where GWI’s Director of Operations explained the treatment process.
Meanwhile, over in the community of Four Miles, Minister Croal explained that once that area is regularised, provision will be made for water to be supplied there too. Addtionally, during a visit to the community of Dagg Point, the Minister said an assessment will be made to identify the best method of supplying water to that village, and it would be catered for under the 2021 Budget programme.