— as government moves to improve water supply in Region Seven

SOME 4,000 residents from communities in the Middle and Lower Mazaruni of Region Seven are set to benefit from improved water supply through a $440M programme to implement new and expanded existing water systems.

The works are part of the government’s programme to improve and increase access to water, both on the coastland and hinterland.

“In the hinterland, we are working towards 100 per cent access by 2025. It involves drilling the wells, putting in distribution networks, overhead storage and putting in solar energy power systems to pump the water up. So it is a complete system that we are building in these villages,” said Guyana Water Inc (GWI) Chief Executive Officer, Shaik Baksh.

In the Lower Mazaruni, a new water system is being built at Itaballi in partnership with mining company ETK. This project is expected to provide more than 90 per cent coverage in the community this year. The mining company will be working to drill the well and assist with putting down the new distribution network.

Itaballi has an existing well and network, but limited capacity as it provides coverage to around 50 per cent of the community.

New wells and new water systems are proposed for Batavia, Dagg Point and Westerbeck, where existing pumps and systems are dilapidated and out of operations. In these areas, residents access water from the river and rainwater harvesting.

The wells and water system in Batavia and Dagg Point are scheduled to be completed by 2023, while the system in Westerbeck is scheduled for completion by 2024.

Also in the Lower Mazaruni, the drilling of a new well, along with the installation of photovoltaic systems, storage and distribution networks and service are proposed for Karrau and Kartabo. In Kartabo, the existing well and network cover approximately 50 per cent of the population while in Karrau, it is just over 50 per cent coverage.

In Middle Mazaruni, upgrades are scheduled for Isseneru, Tasserene and Kangaruma, given that there is no existing water system in the first two communities while the latter has an existing system that provides water from the river to the community but improvement is needed, in addition to the putting down of a well.

CONTRACTS AWARDED
Contracts have already been awarded for the completion of new systems in Isseneru and Tasserene and these are expected to be completed over the next four months.

In Kangaruma, GWI is partnering with the Regional Democratic Council to improve the existing system by July 30, 2022, while a new well will be drilled by 2025.

These planned upgrades in Region Seven are in addition to the over $30 million already expended by GWI in Bartica to pump water and install storage to provide water to the Five Miles Housing Scheme.

“We have the set up already at Four Miles to pump water to Five Miles, we are working on that currently to ensure that the Five Miles Housing Scheme gets a supply of potable water so there’s an upgrade there too,” Baksh explained.

Baksh explained that the company is not only focusing on improving water supply to existing communities, but is already planning on how it will supply water to the new housing scheme in Bartica that was recently announced by President, Dr Irfaan Ali.

The new scheme will have 500 homes and 120 acres of land has been earmarked for the project.

GWI, he said, has identified a new source of water and it is being tested to assess its viability.

“We’ve located a source of water, below Five Miles, but we’re testing it now to see if it’s adequate. We’re testing it for the last six months with hydromet, to ensure that it is a sustainable source and to get that water to the Five Miles scheme as well as to the new scheme that the President recently announced. So GWI is working on that to ensure that there is adequate supply of water from this new source, for those areas. This is in addition to what we are doing now,” Baksh related.

Meanwhile, upgrades to water facilities are also scheduled for Region 10. There, a new water system is also scheduled to be built by 2024 in Falmouth.