GWI to drill more wells in 2018

DPI, Friday, Guyana, December 29, 2017

Understanding the importance of providing quality water supply to residences across Guyana, the Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) has committed to several wells in the new year.

GWI’s Board of Directors has given the go-ahead for the water company to embark on building its own installation capacity.  The company’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Dr. Richard Van West-Charles said, it is for this reason, some senior staff members were sent to the United States to be trained in drilling techniques.

Dr. Van West-Charles, speaking to the press earlier today at the company’s 2017 year-in-review press conference, said the GWI will be investing more in its staff to develop this area.

“You will see in 2018, wells are going to be drilled at Vergenoegen, Pourderoyen, Port Mourant, Better Hope, Sophia will be completed. We have already two wells at Diamond, one more will be drilled at Diamond,” he told the members of the media.

The situation in Diamond, he said is an indication of “bad planning,” since it is a community with a vast population and has had only one well for a number of years.

According to Dr. Van West-Charles, Uitvlugt, Westminister, and Schoonard – all villages in Region Three (Essequibo Islands/West Demerara) will be given one well each. The water company is also negotiating with the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) to look at new wells for Wakenaam and Leguan.

“We have been able to engage the Dutch with a new technology. We have exposed our local contractors to this technology and we hope that our local contractors will also invest because we can safely say that with the new technology we can complete three wells in roughly three and a half months.”

Meanwhile, Dr. Van West-Charles related that the water company has proposed that a feasibility study be carried out to ascertain the possibility of using water from the Hope Canal to service villages on the East Coast of Demerara.

He said that the company has concentrated on improving water quality standards in 2017.

“It is safe to say that 16 of those plants are in complete satisfaction with the established standards of the World Health Organisations and 100 percent of the plans are satisfying the microbiological standards.” This, he explained means that “the water is safe to drink.”

Dr. Van West Charles said while the levels of iron content in water will not affect human health, the company is still working to reduce it altogether.

“But not only human health, we also consider the use of water for your laundry, sanitary wear etc., and we know that it has been a problem in some communities where you have been unable to wash with the water coming from GWI, but in many communities, that has been improved.”

GWI he said, wants to ensure that a better quality of water is supplied in 2018.

 

By: Alexis Rodney

 

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