SEVERAL communities in the town of Mahdia, Region Eight (Potaro-Siparuni), are expected to receive enhanced water services following the completion of a well, which is currently being dug by the Ministry of Housing and Water.

Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, Nigel Dharamlall updated residents of Campbelltown during a recent visit there.
Residents of Campbelltown, Micobie, and other communities had raised concerns about the water supply.

“The government’s position is that everyone must get water; so we have to fix that problem, as people need water, since it is an essential element. And we cannot exist without it, so it is something that we have to sort out as quickly as possible,” the Local Government Minister said.

Minister Dharamlall said that while he understands the residents’ frustration, he hopes they exercise patience until the issue is rectified.
Currently, 200 of the 250 households within the community receive water directly to their houses.

Minister Dharamlall has promised to provide the necessary support, through the Regional Democratic Council (RDC), to ensure other residents receive water directly to their houses as well. This will be done, once a comprehensive feasibility study is carried out.
“The only condition I have to this commitment is that the elderly is the first to benefit from this, and then everyone else who needs this assistance,” he said.

The initiative is in keeping with the government’s commitment to bridge the gap between coastland and hinterland.
The Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI)’s Regional Technician, Trevor Poole said the community is currently experiencing a dry season, which makes it difficult to provide them with the amount of water needed to serve all its residents.

The situation has led to the company providing Campbelltown with gravity-fed water from Sambora Creek.

Poole said that the community had once benefitted from a 24-hour water supply, but that was changed about two years ago, after the well began experiencing problems.

“At this time, the GWI staff is working around-the-clock, and even though we are having dry season, we are trying to ensure that we can at least cover some percentage of the areas, so that you guys can get, even if it is low pressure, temporarily, until we can get systems in place,” he explained.

The company’s technical team will visit the region by mid-October to assess the water system.

(DPI)