In the Land of Many Waters, Linden has no water

Jan 25, 2017 Letters

Dear Editor,
In the land of many waters there is water everywhere. Travelling from Georgetown to Linden, one drives along the Demerara River, then cross 9 creeks between Soesdyke and Linden. Yet in Mackenzie, Linden water isn’t delivered 24/7, despite being bordered for miles on one side by the Demerara River. Typically water starts running about 6 am until about 10 am. It stops running until about 4pm, then stays on until about 10pm after which it shuts down until the following morning. Even though the times are approximate, that is the general schedule. Often when the water is running, the pressure is often low and/or the water is brown.
At the local GWI office I asked why these problems exist and received a collective shrug of the shoulders. There wasn’t even an official company excuse given, not that I would have been appeased by that. They were collecting their paycheck and nobody seemed to care which is unfortunately typical all across Guyana. I reminisced with three other customers who were there to pay their bills about the time about two decades ago when Linden had clean, drinkable water around the clock, even during the infrequent blackouts.
Providing clean water is a basic function of any government. Providing clean water is a low tech activity. Not providing clean water in an area where the infrastructure already exists shows ineptitude and a clear lack of empathy to those being subjected to the poor service which is paid for. Besides lots of water, we are blessed with abundant sources for the other raw materials used to filter water such as sand (used to remove organic matter from plants and animals), charcoal (the precursor to activated charcoal that is used to capture harmful minerals which chlorine or boiling doesn’t remove). Add ultraviolet filtering and the cost for expensive, imported chemicals is vastly reduced. What is your excuse GWI? Can you provide a timeline for when this problem will be fixed?
K. Slowe

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