GUYANA Water Incorporated (GWI) will soon commence works to the tune of $7M to improve the water supply in River’s View, a village located on the border of Region 10.

According to a release, this is in keeping with a promise made by the company’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Shaik Baksh, during a visit to the community earlier this year upon an invitation from Village Toshao, Melena Pollard.

Funding for the implementation of the project in the community of approximately 1,100 residents was acquired from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) under the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) programme.

The contract was, on Thursday, handed over to the Village Toshao by the CEO who expressed his appreciation to UNICEF for the assistance to promote good hygiene and improved water supply.

He took the opportunity to highlight that there are some riverine communities that are not receiving potable water supply from GWI and the company is working to ensure 100 per cent access in those communities irrespective of population size

Baksh added that the company is well prepared to bring 100 per cent access to potable water in all hinterland areas within the next three years. He attributed this readiness to the capability of the GWI team as well as a robust hinterland development strategy.

Meanwhile, GWI’s Executive Director of Hinterland Services, Ramchand Jailal, explained that the River’s View project will entail the installation of almost four kilometers of pipelines, the activation of two new wells and the installation of new photovoltaic systems.

These works will be executed by a GWI in-house team in close collaboration with the River’s View Village Council and are expected to be completed by the end of November 2021.

River’s View currently only has one well in operation. This well, which is equipped with a submersible pump, is solar powered and serves a section of the community, the release said.

Toshao Melena Pollard expressed gratitude to GWI for the intervention in her community which she said relies heavily on rainwater, but suffers in the dry season.

Therefore, she said that the village is grateful that with the government’s intervention through GWI, more residents will be able to access potable water.