GWI recognises excellence at awards ceremony
– Approximately $200M approved by Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) for new water project
–16 wells commissioned in the Hinterland in 2018-2019
By Ayana George
DPI, Guyana, Friday, May 31, 2019.
Several employees and partners of the Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) were recognised for their contribution to furthering the efforts of the company to provide improved water supply to Guyanese.
The water utility company, on Thursday evening, held its annual Award and Prize giving ceremony at the National Cultural Centre. Managing Director, GWI, Dr. Richard Van West-Charles highlighted that over the past year, the agency has done a lot in several areas.
“We focused on organisation and management, water production and distribution, finance and sanitation and under management, several engineers were sent overseas to countries like, Japan, Australia, China among others,” the managing director stressed.
He reiterated that many communities gained access to potable water for the first time with a number of wells drilled in Hinterland communities to mitigate the effects of climate change.
“We were approved a supplementary budget in Parliament last week which will replace many old wells, GWI’s Laboratory also received national recognition and will soon be approved by the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO),” Dr. Van West-Charles noted.
Awardees were urged to work harder since the agency aims to deliver an improved quality service to Guyanese.
Minister within the Ministry of Communities, with responsibility for Housing, Annette Ferguson reminded that potable water is vital for sustainable livelihoods, highlighting the implementation of a National Water Policy.
“Through a technical assistance for a water sector enhancement project, we were granted a loan from the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) at a sum of US $1 Million [$200M GYDs] with plans for the design of potable water system in the pipelines,” Minister Ferguson reasoned.
The minister elaborated that the water system will be inclusive of water treatment facilities.
Awards were presented in the categories; Most Outstanding Region, Commercial Services, Most Efficient Region, Revenue Collection, Most Outstanding Region, Leak Repairs and Most Outstanding Regions for Operation along with long-serving employees.
Images: Marceano Narine