Fairfield residents to access potable water soon

A $5 million investment from the government will soon see several households in Fairfield, West Coast Berbice having access to potable water.

This was disclosed by Minister within the Housing and Water Ministry, Susan Rodrigues during a meeting with the residents on Wednesday.

She said the transmission lines used to ensure residents have access to water have been compromised as they run through land owned by the Fairfield Rice Mill.

She assured residents that government will ensure they have improved water access.

“We have decided this morning that we are going to ensure that this work is done. We are going to do this through a collaboration with the Fairfield Rice Mill… we have requested some assistance from the rice mill in terms of the excavation that has to be done for us to take in the distribution network to get to the houses,” the minister stated.

She said the Guyana Water Inc (GWI) will provide all materials and labour to ensure the work is executed.

When completed, residents will be connected to the Perseverance water system.

Minister Rodrigues said though residents are small in number, as paying customers, they should be able to access potable water like everyone else.

“It does not matter if it is one household or two households or 1,000 households. We have to find a way to work with people and to work with our partners in the private sector so that we can help communities,” she said.

The government is investing heavily to ensure the region’s access to treated water.

The PPP/C Administration has collaborated with the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) to establish a US $8.4 million water treatment plant at Bath.

Additionally, the minister noted that plans are in place to upgrade the sole water treatment plant in the region at Cotton Tree, which currently serves residents from Number Six village to Shieldstown. With the upgrade, service will be extended to residents of Ithaca.

The interventions by the government will see treated water in Region Five move from 20 to 78 per cent.

It also falls in line with the government’s plan to ensure at least 90 per cent of residents on the coast have access to treated water.