Officials who care make a big difference

Mar 18, 2018 AFC Column, Features / Columnists

---

A lightly reported but significant event occurred outside of Georgetown last week. The local news media passed it by, perhaps because they were busy with stories like the dust-up at the state-owned Chronicle Newspaper over a controversial decision concerning two columnists; or the Finance Ministry’s light chiding of the US Ambassador for his remarks on Guyana’s preparation for the hydrocarbon sector; or perhaps it was Cabinet and NICIL’s Special Purpose Unit trying everything to keep GuySuCo afloat.
So not many in the traditional media and social outlets had the space to play up the fact that the Region Five Administration had brought a good deal of comfort and glad tidings to the residents of Moraikobai in the upper reaches of the Mahaicony River, simply by being efficient …
For the past two years, the people of Moraikobai were, to put it baldly, operating in the dark, because their main power generator had broken down. That community of little more than 1,000 was deprived of electricity, the most basic commodity for personal, domestic and social comfort and entertainment, like watching TV.
Regional Executive Officer, Ovid Morrison, and a team travelled to the deep inland community, a full 96 miles up the Mahaicony River, to hear the residents’ concerns and their pleas for help. They needed to have their generator back as soon as possible, and no one could argue with that!
REO Morrison and his Region 5 administrators quickly pooled their resources together and came up solid with a grant of $6 Million to fix the generator. In short order it was done, electricity to the community was restored much to the delight of residents, especially school children preparing for end of term tests.
Perhaps some may say that the Regional officials didn’t deserve any plaudits because actions such as this fall well within the parameters of their stated functions … of the job descriptions of every regional official, county official, congressman or assemblyman in other parts of the world.
Okay, that’s true, but these men and women in Region 5 did it with alacrity, contrary to what our people had come to expect from them. We are encouraged by it. Imagine how the good people of Moraikabai felt to have the quality of life they had become accustomed to, returned in a few hours because some people who care listened and acted without delay.
What Government would like to see going forward is that this can-do approach becomes the modus operandi, the standard operating procedure across all ten Regions, not just to fix what’s broken, but to implement innovative schemes and provide the thousands of people living in inland and hinterland areas with every amenity that the coastal and near inland towns are accustomed, like water via pipes, or an LTE tower to transmit internet signals.
Toshao Colin Adrian captured the gratitude and palpable excitement of his community when he publicly acknowledged the speed with which ‘the Region’ took action.
“The generator (went) down because the Village Council had run out of funds due to the high costs of transporting fuel 96 miles into the upper reaches of the river, where our community is,” he said. “The Regional Executive Officer, Mr. Ovid Morrison, and a team visited. Mr. Morrison promised assistance and this assistance (came) in less than a week after the visit. Thanks to this prompt support, power is now back at Moraikobai. The people of Moraikobai are very happy with this development. Thumbs up for the regional administration and the government! We applaud this prompt response”.
The Village Captain was not lost for words, just elated.
He also said that a Management Committee has now been formed to operate and to closely monitor the generator between 6.00 pm and 10.00 pm daily, and residents would be required to make a small contribution of $5,000 per month. We look ahead to the installation of a second, larger unit that will power them 24/7.
The actions of REO Morrison in West Berbice remind us of similarly commendable and useful interventions by the Guyana Water Inc. (GWI) since May of 2015. Dozens of communities had never had potable water. Some residents told stories of walking for miles through jungle to access water from creeks and rivers. Some villages with shallow wells received some water for only brief periods daily, or every three days. Others got water but they had to have the patience of the biblical Job to endure long hours of waiting, because of low water pressure from the one pipe in the village centre. That meant the old and the toddlers fetching buckets of water all day. Well, that is now over.
As many already know, GWI is chugging along with some serious disadvantages including revenue shortage, thousands of delinquent customers, and the power supply to many wells at the mercy of GPL. Water pumps in wells burn with annoying frequency, old well shafts break, and even the standby generators grind to a halt sometimes.
But, GWI can take credit for changing the quality of life of thousands of villagers in the past three years. Even in Georgetown, residents of Tucville Terrace no longer have to walk long distances for water. GWI fixed it after the CEO was lobbied. And ask the residents of Soesdyke how satisfied they are since water began flowing through community pipes for the first time in many years.
The same is also true for Hand-en Veldt, Mahaica; Lima Sands, Essequibo; Silver Hill, Wismar, communities along the Linden/Soesdyke Highway; Moleson Creek near the Corentyne ferry crossing; and Sophia, to name a few.
The point is that officials are there to serve the people. Once they are prepared to listen, a lot could be addressed really quickly.

---

---