New Diamond well to be ready by May

Feb 20, 2017 News

– GWI Head blames poor planning for water woes

With about 30,000 residents, Diamond Housing Scheme, East Bank Demerara is perhaps the second largest scheme in the entire country, behind the ever growing La Parfaite Harmonie Housing Scheme, West Bank Demerara. Despite this, Diamond is only served by a single pump station; which has resulted in residents experiencing repeated water shortages over the years.
“It was not effective planning that you had a community such as Diamond and build only one well,” says Dr. Richard Van West-Charles, Managing Director of the Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI).
He said that a Dutch company has already been contracted to build a new well which will be ready by May of this year. Efforts are also underway to expand the existing pump station.
In addition to the limited supply of water coming from the one pump station, the effective distribution of water in Diamond is further hampered by leaks in the system. Inspectors have so far detected more than 140 leaks in the distribution lines at Diamond alone.

GWI head, Dr. Richard Van West-Charles

“Most critical for all of the communities is the issue of the recognition of leaks and the reporting of leaks to us (GWI),” Dr. West-Charles stressed.
He noted that while the water company has been slothful in responding to some complaints, efforts are being made to change this for the better.
Dr. West-Charles noted that GWI is currently doing house to house visits to take reports and inspect pipelines along the East Bank of Demerara, to ensure all the leaks are detected and remedied. This is being facilitated under a wider project funded by the Inter-American Development to develop the water delivery system of Diamond Housing Scheme.
“We want to work with the communities, because the leaks have an impact on (water) pressure,” Dr. West-Charles told reporters.
He highlighted that only recently, two major breaks were detected in the pipelines at Herstelling, East Bank Demerara.
“There were two major 12-inch lines leaking, and that has dropped the pressure considerably, but once that was fixed, the pressure was back up.”
There have also been instances where the road works done by contractors have affected the water lines below. Engagements are ongoing with the Ministry of Public Infrastructure to ensure that this situation is addressed.
Additionally, GWI is also looking to work closely with Neighbourhood Democratic Councils across the country, to ensure that when residents are executing massive cleanup exercises, they are mindful of the existence of the water pipes.
“We think we need better coordination, with respect to protection of the water mains.” Plugging up the leaks will also eliminate the risks of water being contaminated.