‘We don’t want no haphazard connection’- Residents tell Water Minister
Minister in the Ministry of Housing and Water Susan Rodrigues tests the water pressure in Lust-en-Rust
Residents who have been struggling for potable water through their taps over the last year, today called on Minister within the Ministry of Housing Susan Rodrigues to ensure that connectivity of their water supply is done in a structured and fair manner, and not in a haphazard fashion.
Minister Rodrigues, who is responsible for the water sector, visited the community of Lust-en-Rust West Bank Demerara after residents there complained about their inability to receive water through the taps. Rodrigues was accompanied by technical officers from the Guyana Water Inc. (GWI), headed by its Operations Manager Dwayne Shako.
It was during the visit that the team learnt that residents have been trekking along impassable roads to a village located miles away in order to get water. In other instances, those who live close to canals have been pumping water from there, adding bleach, and using the same water for drinking and other household uses.
Residents share their concerns with Minister Rodrigues
At the moment, GWI is in the process of cleaning out a well in the area, which it hopes would be able to send enough pressure to the homes of all the residents in the community, and that should be completed this weekend, with 1.8 million gallons of water in the system per day as against 1.2 million gallons which currently obtains.
We were told that part of the problem is that GWI placed the cart before the horse in the development of the scheme, where installed service went to persons who were granted plots of land and who had applied for their water.
As it is now, many of those lands are covered by overgrown bushes and the services are still installed, with numerous burst pipes and leaks at those locations, which has been clearly preventing adequate water pressure from reaching every resident.
The company is now embarking on an initiative to have those services where persons are not living removed, in order to build up the pressure.
Minister Rodrigues noted that going forward, the Ministry will now have to work closely with GWI and the Central Housing and Planning Authority, to ensure that none of the agencies that are to play a part in housing developments and the installation of services would need to play catch up, in relation to what would obtain from now on.
