Improved water supply for Region 1

Residents of Santa Rosa in the Moruca Sub-District, Region One will soon benefit from an improved water supply and delivery system, thanks to an intervention made by Minister of Housing and Water, Hon. Collin Croal.

On Monday last, the Minister along with a team from Guyana Water Inc. made a brief visit to the Moruca Sub-District with the aim of finding a solution to the water woes facing residents.

After careful inspection of the pump station at Santa Rosa, it was found that the current system can facilitate some amount of expansion which would mean better distribution. As such, in the coming weeks, expansion work to the distribution and transmission main will commence. According to Minister Croal, currently, residents of Santa Rosa only benefit from four hours per day supply of water.

“As it is right now, residents are getting water in the morning from 6 am to 8 am and in the afternoon from 2 to 4 pm, with the extension to the system, we will increase the hours from 5 am to 9 am and in the afternoon from 2pm to 6 pm” the Minister explained. Already the materials needed for the expansion have arrived in the region and works will commence in the coming weeks.

This expansion is expected to serve Santa Rosa Island, Sheba, and One Mile.

Meanwhile, the GWI team continues to conduct its needs assessment in other villages in the sub-district in preparation for more long-term solutions to water issues facing residents.

Also, at Mora, within the coming months works will commence for a distribution network in that village.

Also, over the weekend, the Minister visited that village of Kamwatta to assess the situation there, having received some complaints. Given the unique needs of that village, Minister Croal explained that an independent well is needed to meet the demands of that and other surrounding satellite villages. However, the provision will be made for that in the 2021 national budget.

This recent visit is a follow up to a visit made by the Minister and team earlier in August. The first visit was made to the Mabaruma Sub-district where the minister sought to address similar issues facing residents. Coming out of that visit a team from GWI commenced a Needs Assessment exercise in the region; that data will serve as a guide for future plans for the water sector in Region One.