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GWI cuts off water supply to Diamond squatting community
– after timber company threatens legal action over land ownership
By Michael Jordan
The Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) has cut off water from the Great Diamond squatting community due to the ongoing land dispute between the residents and Toolsie Persaud Limited(TPL).
Residents said that they have been without potable water for almost a month and the lack of rainfall has made their plight even more severe.
When Kaieteur News visited the area yesterday, residents were observed fetching water from a nearby community.
TPL is only claiming the northern section of the area so squatters to the south of the same land are unaffected by the dispute.
A resident fetching water to her home
Ingrid Bowen, the Chairperson of the Great Diamond Housing Group, said that the affected residents plan to approach Government officials this week for them to intervene.
Explaining its action, a GWI official, who asked not to be identified, said that TPL had alleged that the residents were squatting on the timber company’s land.
The official said that TPL had threatened GWI with legal action if the water company continued to supply water to the community.
According to the community spokesperson, GWI had installed three standpipes in the area after residents paid the $15,000 connection fee and purchased pipes and other fittings.
She said that the residents had initially paid water rates but were advised to discontinue since the standpipes were not installed in their yards.
Bowen added that water suddenly stopped flowing through the standpipes about three weeks ago.
At first, she assumed that persons who were doing repairs in the area had accidentally severed the pipelines.
Bowen said she eventually learnt of the disconnection after making enquiries at GWI.
According to Bowen, a GWI official said that the lines would be reconnected if the residents produced documents indicating that they had been regularised.
The residents have been occupying the area for about 20 years.
According to Bowen, TPL won a court dispute it had with the residents about four years ago.
The squatters were issued with a court order to vacate the area, but Bowen said that a top Government official intervened and told them to stay there.
Around June last year, GPL erected poles, power lines and transformers in the area as part of the company’s Unserved Areas Electrification Programme.
But some two months later, GPL was forced to remove the same power lines after Toolsie Persaud Limited stated that the land was theirs and threatened to take the power company to court.
The residents appealed to government officials and GPL re-installed the wires and transformers.
Bowen said that they are awaiting word from the Ministry of Housing before they can have electricity in their homes.
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