Pattensen receiving water first time in 30 years

Oct 17, 2015 News

The Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) is installing stand-pipes in Pattensen, North Sophia, providing potable water to that section of the community for the first time in more than 30 years.

Chief Executive, Dr. Van West-Charles, inspecting one of the standpipes at Pattensen.

Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Van West-Charles, inspected the works being executed by GWI’s Operations Team, Georgetown on Thursday.
“This is the medium term plan to at least provide the Sophia community with easily accessible stand-pipes. We envision that every resident of Sophia will have access to their own water service connection in the future. Our priority is to provide service immediately and bring relief to residents who have been without water for more than 30 years, which is entirely unacceptable.”
In the short term, in excess of 10 stand-pipes will be installed in North Sophia, an area of the community in which residents were forced to traverse long distances to obtain water for domestic purposes.
Speaking to Dr. West-Charles, residents from North Sophia commended GWI for providing relief via the recently installed stand-pipes. Residents also expressed their relief that the stand-pipes were installed directly in front of their homes for easy access.
“They also indicated that the new service would alleviate the physical and financial burden of buying water or travelling long distances to obtain a few buckets of water.”
Addressing some of the residents, the GWI boss charged them with maintaining the stand-pipes and protecting the infrastructure from vandalism. He assured that the project is temporary and that GWI will be exploring the installation of individual water service connections to homes within Sophia.