Increased water pressure, service hours for Mabaruma residents soon
Residents in Mabaruma, Region One will soon benefit from increased water pressure and service hours as works to improve the water distribution systems are moving apace. Minister of Housing and Water, Hon. Collin Croal who recently visited the Region, said he is pleased with what he has seen to date after visiting pump stations in Mabaruma Central and Wanaina.
Under the Water Management and Expansion programme, Mabaruma Central, Barabina and Wanaina would be interconnected to boost the water distribution system. The Minister said the catchment area at Mabaruma Central and Wanaina has already been completed to facilitate the upgrade.
“So, for Wanaina and Mabaruma Central, that aspect of the work is complete and that is the reservoir for the water to allow for the pumping to take place and to have the better quality of the water when being pumped,” he said.
The Minister said the focus would now be on the installation of electrical pumps as part of the expansion process. The pumps will be installed at Mabaruma Central and Barabina and will increase service hours from nine to approximately 16 hours per day.
“After the installation of those pumps, we are expecting, by somewhere around the second week in April, to have them connected to the electrical system, the generating system for here in Mabaruma.
What that does is allow increased pumping hours because as it is right now, they are using the motor system and so it will allow increased pumping hours,” the Minister explained.
Under the programme, Minister Croal also noted that the rotten overhead tank in Mabaruma Central was replaced with a plastic tank to ensure there is a constant supply of water in Regional Offices and in the hospital in particular. The works are rollover projects from the 2020 Emergency Budget.
Additionally, it was highlighted that money has been allocated in Budget 2021 to drill a well in Wauna.
“For the Wauna community they have been complaining a lot because they are depending on the Wanaina system. By the end of 2021, I am pleased to let them know that they would be having their own well that will service that community.
We are expecting a rig which will first go to the Matarkai sub-region. It is coming from Region Nine within another month and a half and when it finishes in the Matarkai sub-region, it will be coming over here in Mabaruma to drill some further wells between the end of this year and on to 2022,” Minister Croal said. The sum of $4 billion has been allocated in 2021 to procure equipment and improve and expand the water supply network systems countrywide. It also includes the drilling of new wells along with the upgrading of photovoltaic systems, storage facilities, distribution networks and service connections across Regions One, Three, Seven, Eight and Nine. The distribution networks would also be upgraded in Regions Eight and Nine.