Four hinterland communities to benefit from water distribution systems

Mar 11, 2022 News

Kaieteur News – Four communities within Region Nine, Aranaputa, Wowetta, Rupertee and Shulinab, will benefit from new water distribution systems which will provide potable water to residents after three years of undergoing construction.

A water supply system that was installed in Aranaputa

Region Nine Chairman, Brian Allicock, told Kaieteur News that some of the wells which were being constructed within the three-year period were put on hold for a while due to insufficient funding for the distribution lines. The chairman noted that the systems will benefit approximately 1800 residents within the four villages.
“It will benefit them greatly because they now have access to potable, safe water, to drink because they used to depend on hand dug wells which, during the rainy seasons would overflow” Allicock expressed.
The Department of Public Information reported that the systems were jointly funded by the Government of Guyana through the Guyana Water Incorporation and Caribbean Development Bank’s Basic Needs Trust Fund (BNTF), under the Ministry of Finance.
According to the DPI article, the distribution systems cost over $100 million, $37.2 million for the system at Aranaputa, $25.8 million for the system at Rupertee, $27.2 million for another in Wowetta and $22.2 million for the one in Shulinab.
Meanwhile GWI in collaboration with the Ministry of Housing and Water along with the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to train over 200 Community Service Officers (CSO’s) to manage and maintain water supply systems within the various hinterland regions across the country.
The project is already pacing ahead with 64 CSOs already being trained within region nine to better equip them with the knowledge and skills to operate and maintain the water supply systems in their respective villages. These participants hail from 32 villages in Central, South-Central and North Rupununi, including Rupertee, Wowetta, Aranaputa, Nappi, Parishara and Shiriri.
The Minister of Housing, Collin Croal, previously stated that the Government recently received a new rig to fast track the drilling of a number of wells. The rig, he said was procured since early last year and has only arrived in the country lately.
As reported on, in this year’s budget a total of $4.9 billion was provided to the water sector of which $394.5 million has been allocated under the Hinterland Water Supply System (HWSP). The villages listed to benefit from these allocations were Phillipai, Isseneru, Warwatta and Tasserene in Region 7, Itabac in Region 8, as well as Yakarinta and Katoka in Region 9.

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