AS government works to ensure that potable water is available in remote parts of the country, some 52 households in Quarrie, a small Amerindian community located in Central Rupununi, Region Nine, will soon benefit from a $35 million well and water- distribution network.

According to a Department of Public Information (DPI) newsletter, the contract for the project, which has a January 2023 completion date, was awarded to R. Kissoon Construction Company.

Minister within the Ministry of Housing and Water, Susan Rodrigues, during a visit to the community over the weekend, told residents that the government is committed to ensuring hinterland communities have access to potable water.

“We want everybody to be receiving water because we have a goal. Our objective is that everybody, by 2025, must have 100 per cent access to potable water in your homes. So, we are working towards that”, she was quoted as saying.

Currently, only 20 per cent of the community has access to water and a limited amount is supplied to the school and health post.

The DPI added that the new well will increase water coverage from 20 to 95 per cent.

Additionally, Guyana Water Incorporated’s (GWI) Hinterland Co-ordinator, Ramchand Jailall, said the contractor will employ persons from the community to build the well.

He said the well will provide immediate relief to the community.

According to the DPI, the drilling of the new well also forms part of the government’s five-year strategic plan to achieve 100 per cent access to potable water across the country by 2025.

The minister was accompanied by Regional Chairman, Brian Allicock, Senior Councillor Martin Anthony, contractors and staff of the ministry and GWI.

Sports gears were also handed over to children in the village.