THE Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI), on Sunday, carried out works at the corner of Main and Church Streets, to rectify a leak that had occurred earlier in the week.
Workers were expected to conclude the works by late Sunday afternoon. GWI Production Manager Orlando Benjamin told the Guyana Chronicle that the situation would not affect residents. “It’s not a breakage. It’s just a leak so we didn’t have to cut off water to do this…this is not going to affect the residents; it’s just that the traffic would be affected for a while,” explained Benjamin. He told the Guyana Chronicle that preparation had to be made prior to the commencement of the works.
“There’s a 12-inch cast iron main that we are currently working on and an eight-inch bell head or joint that we are currently repairing. It started leaking sometime last week but we had to plan and prepare in order to execute the work. The 12 inch currently we are putting on a repair band, and the bell head we have to get lead to effect the repair,” he said.
Sunday’s repairs is one in a series that is been effected on sections of the transmission main that runs along Church Street, which has ruptured in several places. The frequent damage is as result of the aged state of the transmission lines which were installed over 100 years ago. Meanwhile, GWI Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Shaik Baksh, visited the site of a leakage to get a first-hand look at the repairs. He was accompanied by Senior Engineer in the Special Projects Unit of the Ministry of Public Works, Colin Gittens. The ministry is working alongside GWI to carry out repair works to the roadway when the water company concludes its work.
The aged transmission mains have also been hampering the utility company’s efforts to increase water pressure, which is often necessary to flush out rust from the pipelines. This situation is sometimes the cause of the discoloured state of the tap water in Georgetown.
The replacement of the aged mains is part of GWI’s five year Strategic Plan for 2021- 2025. Upgrades are expected to be catered for in the 2021 Budget as part of a $1.1 billion allocated to GWI. The upgrades are expected to benefit over 35,000 residents.
“The CEO said the replacement of these mains is high on GWI’s agenda and three such projects have been catered for in the 2021 budget. This includes the replacement of transmission mains from Shelterbelt to Church Street, which will lead to Water Street, Shelterbelt through Cemetery road and Shelterbelt to Cummings Street. The company is also hoping to secure funding for the replacement of mains from Cummings Street to Water Street,” a statement issued by GWI on Sunday said.
GWI has already commenced the replacement of the transmission mains, with works currently ongoing between Lamaha Street and Shelterbelt. These works are expected to be completed by the end of March 2021. Aside from the replacement of the Georgetown main transmission lines which is aimed at improving the water supply across the country, GWI is scheduled to spend some $200 million to expand the Sophia, Eccles, Covent Garden, Grove, Friendship and Vergenoegen water treatment plants. This is expected to benefit over 50,000 residents. Another $275 million has been set aside for the procurement and installation of 20,000 water meters for residential and business areas across the country, while another $100 million has been allotted for the procurement of electro-mechanical equipment for the rehabilitation of water production facilities.
