Together, let’s keep moving forward

Jul 28, 2019 APNU Column, Features / Columnists

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In Guyana, thanks to the achievements of the APNU+AFC coalition government, several of the problems that plagued our nation are now a thing of the past. Under the APNU+AFC government, Guyana is finally moving in the right direction. We have come so far in just four short years, that some citizens may have forgotten what passed for ‘normal’ under the PPP.
During their time in office, key leaders and their cronies in the PPP were not interested in building our sanitation infrastructure. Under their watch, Sanitation and potable water supply in our cities, towns and villages were poorly maintained.
It might be easy to forget, given the progress that has been made by the APNU+AFC, that many communities all across the nation did not have access to drinking water. Guyanese were embarrassed of our capital city – Georgetown; Stabroek Market Square was no better than a landfill and the streets, canals and drains of our capital city were overflowing with garbage.
Under the PPP, dams and canals were not maintained or built, this caused massive flooding along the coast and the lowlands. Flooding destroyed farmlands, damaged crops and took away the livelihood of many a farmer. Gold mining communities suffered from pollution of their waterways due to poor regulation and a lack of enforcement.
In 2013, there was a massive outbreak of gastroenteritis in the Barima-Waini region, there were over 529 reported cases of the disease and several people died. The dishonest PPP under-reported this event and claimed that the situation had returned to ‘normal’.
Reports of illness and deaths dropped off the daily headlines to make way for everyday crimes and the budget debates in the National Assembly. This was a clear indication that the PPP central and regional administrations were indifferent to and tolerant of the appalling suffering of the population in the Barima-Waini. Unfortunately, this incident like so many similar incidents were par for the course during the 23 years of PPP mismanagement of Guyana’s water and sanitation infrastructure.
THE GOOD LIFE
Ensuring all Guyanese have access to potable water is essential to a good quality of life. Since taking office in 2015, the APNU+AFC Coalition government has instituted policies that are responsible for more than 100,000 people now having access to clean drinking water. We have built water treatment plants at places like Uitvlugt- Essequibo Islands -West Demerara Region; Diamond- Demerara- Mahaica Region; and Sheet Anchor- East Berbice-Corentyne Region, providing over 45,000 residents with 24-hour access to water.
Major expansion in the water treatment plant in New Amsterdam saw around 7, 000 persons gain first-time access to drinking water, with overall supply increasing to 24-hour, for the first time in over two decades.
With an investment of $64M, the water treatment system in Pouderoyen, Fellowship, and the Vergenoegen water treatment plants in the Essequibo Islands–West Demerara Region (Region No.3), were rehabilitated to better serve customers. 31,200 residents benefitted from improved levels of service from Cornelia Ida to Fellowship.
Upgrades and general maintenance were also made to several water distribution lines, including at Sheet Anchor – East Berbice-Corentyne (Region No.6) this helped over 6,000 residents; Wisroc – Upper Demerara-Berbice (Region No. 10) 9,100 residents benefitted, and at Three Friends and Moblissa– benefitting 500 residents.
In keeping with our promise of a good life, new wells were drilled all across the hinterland. Wells were drilled in the Barima-Waini Region at Port Kaituma, Koko, Moruca; in the Upper Berbice Region at Port Mourant; in the Cuyuni-Mazaruni Region at Trestle; in the Potaro-Siparuni Region at Campbelltown; in the Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo at Kuma, Rupertee, Wowetta, Aranaputa and Shulinab, just to name a few.
New water treatment systems were installed in Mathews Ridge, Koberino and Kamwatta in the Barima-Waini Region. Installation of transmission lines from rehabilitated wells in Ruimveldt and Turkeyen helped to bring potable water to over 20,000 residents of ‘D’ and ‘E’ Fields in Sophia.
Due to a major overhaul of the transmission system in the city, thousands of residents of Georgetown now receive 24-hour water supply for the very first time.
Realising that proper sanitation and drainage is essential to attract the future quality jobs for our young people, APNU+AFC has spent billions of dollars on drainage and irrigation. Over 29Km of canals and 42 Km of irrigation channels have been built. RAID programmes improved irrigation systems in villages like Ithaca, Triumph and Mocha Arcadia, helping over 11,500 acres and 100 farming households, and 8,000 people.
In 2018, the APNU+AFC government commissioned five new pumps; at Lusignan ($364M), Friendship/Vigilance ($240M), Enmore ($412M), Three Friends ($103m) and Buxton ($367M). These new pumps have all together benefitted over 200,000 persons. The new pumps provide relief for residents from flooding, and help facilitate drainage of over 4, 500 acres of farmland.
It is no secret that within the first few months of taking office, the APNU+AFC embarked on a nationwide clean-up campaign, starting with the city of Georgetown. Tons of garbage were cleared from the streets of Georgetown, canals were desilted, national monuments were spruced up and our green spaces were made greener.
In those first few months the government spent over $100M in a “clean-up Georgetown” campaign. What was a ‘Garbage City under the PPP, was transformed into a Garden City.
Improved solid waste management is now benefiting citizens all across the country. The Coalition government along with regional and local governments have developed new landfill at Bartica, Linden and Mahdia.
Since 2015, our government has invested billions of dollars on upgrading our canals and irrigation systems and improving our solid waste management. This has helped to reduce flooding during the rainy season and cut down on the incidence of vector-borne and other similar type diseases. In just four short years President David Granger’s Coalition team has set about making Guyana clean and green.
We are proud of the progress that we have made, but we know that real change is neither quick to come by or easy to establish. There is a lot more to do. Together, let’s keep moving forward.

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