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East Bank Berbice residents to benefit from 24 hours water service
The tap being turned on at the Highbury Arrival Day Centre with GWI’s head, Dr. Richard Van West Charles present.
The Guyana Water Incorporated as part of its mandate to ensure every Guyanese has access to potable water has made the residents of Lighttown, Highbury and Deutichan, East Bank Berbice very happy.
The company commissioned a water supply system on World Water Day on Thursday at a ribbon cutting ceremony.
Executive Officer of Operations at GWI, Dwayne Shako, told the gathering that the communities would have gone through much suffering with the lack of water. He stressed that even with a river running in the village, it was still not good enough to consume due to the level of contamination.
“The first time we came in here, it looked like a massive task but these guys ran 2400 lengths of pipe within a couple of weeks to ensure that this area has water,” Shako said.
Managing Director, Dr. Richard Van West Charles, explained that the access to potable water was vital and important along with the access to sanitation and hygiene is also very critical.
“We as a people have got to seriously address the sustainable goals of dealing with waste water treatment in all of our communities,” Charles said.
He recounted that it was just about a year ago when he visited the area of Highbury for an event when he was approached by the people of Lighttown,” that encounter forced the attention to a need because water is a human right”. He hailed the collective approach to the solution as it being a signal to the people that “we can do many things”.
It was also mentioned by the Managing Director that with agriculture being an important activity as part of the developmental strategy, it uses up 70% of the fresh water globally.
He stressed, “We have to look at agricultural practices in use of water for the production of food. There are many new techniques to be used in agriculture communities where they use drip technology, where they use less water and produce more food, we have to look at the manufacturing industries and what chemicals they are using and where they are disposing of it.” This he said shows how water is relevant in every sector of development. He praised the professional staff comprising Manager for Region Six Operations, Jawaharlall Ramjug, Dwayne Shako and the engineer Randy Leitch and his team for putting their skills and knowledge into practice and completing the task as expected.
A community member, Mitford Ward, while addressing the persons gathered at the site in Highbury, expressed his satisfaction for hearing their cries and requests made for potable water within their respective communities.
“We are very happy that you have met our needs for which we are very thankful. We could not imagine that we would have been privileged to have potable water in our homes that would enable us to make use of water in a modern way,” Ward underscored.
The water supply system was commissioned at $30 million and offers 24 hours water service.
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