New well in the pipeline for Tuschen

Jan 13, 2009 News

– new Housing and Water Minister visits affected community

Newly appointed Minister of Housing and Water, Mohamed Irfaan Ali, accompanied by top brass of the Guyana Water Inc. and senior Region Three officials, on Saturday visited Tuschen, East Bank Essequibo, to take a first hand look at the Tuschen Well Station which recently encountered problems.

GWI Chief Executive Officer, Karan Singh, makes a point to new Housing Minister Irfaan Ali, as they examine a residential water connection during a recent visit to the Tuschen area

The minister took the opportunity to speak with residents of the affected area, then made an impromptu stop in the Tuschen Housing Scheme, where the team unearthed many practices that were not in keeping with the act and regulations governing the water sector.

The Guyana Water Inc. Team, which included CEO Karan Singh; Yuri Chandisingh, Director of Operations; Altaf Gafoor, Director of Capital Planning (Ag); Aubrey Roberts, Divisional Manager of GWI Operations; and Public Relations Officer Rawle Aaron, was on site to give technical support and offer solutions to the problem.

It was agreed that the area will immediately begin receiving water via delivery trucks, an effort that will be supported by sectionalised delivery to the area from Vergenoegen.

This means that residents in different areas will receive water at different periods of the day. In the medium term, a well will be drilled at Vergenoegen to enhance the supply of water in this area.

Mr Karan Singh was keen on rehabilitating the well at Tuschen, but expressed little optimism because the well was over 50 years old.

In the long term, it was decided that the RDC and NDC will immediately commence activities that will determine an appropriate area for the drilling of a new well to cater for the long term needs of the Tuschen community, which has seen many housing schemes in the recent past.

The minister spoke to the residents present about the standards that must be met by contractors who do work for GWI.

He said that they must ensure proper standards, and all GWI regulations must be followed. He also pointed out that customers have to be equally responsible in their use of the water system.

He alluded to the fact that many residents at the end of the network are receiving a poor supply of water due to persons in their own community using the water in a manner for which the system was not designed.

Ali emphasized that those residents who are in the habit of pumping from the main will have to stop, so that adequate pressure can reach the customers at the end of the system. He reiterated that GWI and residents must work together to solve the problems in the area.

The minister encouraged residents to be proactive in their conservation efforts, because “all have to be aware of global warming and its impact on our water supply.”

He said, “We have to make an active commitment to conserve, so that future generations can benefit.”

According to the minister, the water sector has many challenges, and his ministry will be working towards confronting these challenges.

He said that his confidence in the team at GWI, led by Chief Executive Karan Singh, is of the highest, and he looks forward to confronting the challenges in a positive and problem-solving manner.

The minister spoke about the process of cleansing the database at GWI in an effort to ensure all customers receive accurate bills.

According to a release from GWI, the new minister is sparing no effort in ensuring developments for the water sector, which he admitted minutes, after taking his Oath of Office, is critical and consistently requires a high priority on Government’s agenda.