Light, water for Campbelltown Co-Op Farm

DPI, Guyana, Friday, August 2, 2019

Annie Williams is one of 13 farmers who have recently started a co-op farming society in the Indigenous Village of Campbelltown.

However, since they have been established, they have been missing one key resource – water. This has been a daily struggle for the farmers as Williams explained that they have been reliant on the rain and water from a creek located several miles down the road for water.

There is also a need for electricity as the farmers would normally shell their peas at night, but since the solar-powered system experienced a deficiency, work has been hindered. The power supply does not last past 8pm.

Williams took the opportunity at the ‘Government Comes To You’ outreach to solicit assistance from her government, who readily responded to her plight.

Trevor Poole, who is the Regional Technician of Mahdia for the Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI), explained to Williams that the company is working on getting water to the area. “We already did some work, an estimation of what kind of material is needed to carry the line to the area so residents in the area can have access to potable water… This will be completed by late August, early September.”

Delighted with the progress report from GWI, Williams happily proceeded to the Ministry of Public Infrastructure’s booth to have her next issue addressed. At the booth, she met with Minister within the Ministry of Public Infrastructure, Hon. Jaipaul Sharma who had even more good news to give Williams.

“There is a solar system, supplying them [farmers] with power, and that is free of cost, the problem there is that they [farmers] say the system is operating at half its capacity. So, we have to check to see, of course. The first thing – what it will cost to run a line into the area, the second thing is what it will cost to restore the storage capacity of the solar system, and of course solar energy is free to them. So, they [farmers] have to look at the feasibility on their end and we will look at it on our end as well… As soon as we are finished here [at the outreach], we will send a team to do a check in the area.”

Williams now has renewed hope that with these interventions by the government, she will be able to increase her production and bring even more persons on board with the co-op.

The government took its services to the people of Mahdia on Friday, in an effort to listen to their concerns, and with the aim of finding solutions.