–GWI CEO says, outlines plans to drill new wells this year
IN the year 2022, some 7,000 persons benefitted from first-time access to water, and the entity responsible for this, Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) hopes to continue this trend in 2023 to improve access to water across the country.

This was according to GWI’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Shaik Baksh, during a press conference hosted at the company’s office on Tuesday.

Baksh said that GWI is on the road to transformation and also has a transformative agenda to support the government’s developmental thrust and the country’s development as a whole.

He related that while the utility company had a budget of $6.5 billion for the year 2022, this was meant to be expended for several projects which included the coastal water treatment programme, other coastal projects, and urban and hinterland projects.

Owing to those investments, GWI has been able to improve access to water by 97 per cent.

He said: “We have been extending water supply to unserved areas across the coastal belt and 7,000 persons benefitted from first-time access for the year 2022.”

Baksh went on to say that along with that, GWI was able to drill wells at Providence on the East Bank of Demerara; Parika, East Bank Essequibo, and at Tain in Region Six.

Further, in the hinterland regions, the company drilled some 20 wells as the budget for these projects was fully provided by the Government of Guyana for the capital works and as a result, the hinterland regions have moved to 75 per cent access to water for the year 2022.

Against this backdrop, it was related that access to water will gradually move up, as the goal is to achieve 100 per cent access to water for hinterland communities.

To achieve this, it was further related that some 30 new wells will be drilled in Regions One, Seven, Eight and Nine, as special attention will be paid to access to water in hinterland villages and communities.

FINANCIAL VIABILITY RESTORED
The CEO went on to highlight other major achievements of the company for 2022, noting that GWI’s financial viability was restored from a position of bankruptcy just two years ago.

“It has been restored to a position of viability, with that I meant that we are in a healthy financial position,” Baksh said, adding that persons have been paying their bills, although there remains some challenges in this area.

With the improvement in the company’s financial viability, he added that GWI has been able to do a number of things including constructing two new buildings, one in Lethem and another in Region Five, while they have also been able to undertake the refurbishment of other offices.

Additionally, GWI managed to address employee welfare and ensure that employees get paid on time, while also increasing the pay of various categories of employees in the company.

Despite the successes, Baksh related that there have been several challenges over the past year. The company has since been reorganising its agenda to ensure that a high level of service is delivered.

“We want to continuously improve special systems that we put in place to achieve the desired objectives so that people can enjoy a better level of service across Guyana,” he said.

Further, in relation to water quality, plans and programmes have been outlined to improve this over the next two years.