Over 500 residents of Karaudarnau, Region Nine to get potable water soon

$48.6M well to be completed by January 2023

As part of President Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali’s commitment to the residents of Karaudarnau (Krowbar) Village, Region Nine to expand the water distribution system, a contract to the tune of $48.6 million was awarded to A & E Construction, Supplies and Services earlier this week to complete the expansion of the network.

This will see over 500 residents within the community receiving potable water.

Minister within the Ministry of Housing and Water, Susan Rodrigues addressing the residents

The project is slated to be completed by January 2023.

This is a follow-up to a three-day outreach led by President Ali to several communities in the region back in August. During this outreach, residents indicated that only 50 per cent of the community has access to water.

Delivering remarks at the meeting on Saturday at Karaudarnau Primary School, Minister within the Ministry of Housing and Water, Susan Rodrigues underscored that the government remains committed to the development of its people across the country.

Region Nine is the most advanced region since it has the most access to water, which is 70 per cent .

Sports gear handed over to the community

Some $500 million has been invested for water distribution from 2020 to present to improve access to water in the region.

The minister said the aim is for every community to have 100 per cent access to water by 2025.

“I am extremely proud to say that all of the commitments made by the president, in relation to housing and water, are either already completed or almost completed,” Minister Rodrigues informed the gathering, noting that this is a remarkable achievement of the ministry.

She noted that the President Ali-led government moves expeditiously to address the issues of its people and remains committed to improving the livelihood of all Guyanese.

As it relates to housing, Minister Rodrigues stated that back in August, President Ali made a huge announcement where 600 persons were allotted low income house lots and would be given $1 million to commence construction of their homes in Lethem and Tabatinga.

Minister Rodrigues received a traditional welcome to the village

Equally important, Minister Rodrigues said that the aggressive housing programme will be accelerated, since some communities within the region are slated for housing as part of the Hinterland Housing Programme.

“When you look at the achievements of our party in government before 2015 and then from 2020 to now, all of the policies regarding Hinterland communities, they all were started by the PPP/C administration.”

Minister Rodrigues noted that the government understands the importance of the Indigenous people, as such, they will not be left out of the government’s transformational agenda.

She added that every project is designed to include not only people on the coast land, but those in the Hinterland as well.

Further to that, Minister Rodrigues underlined that Hess Corporation will pay Guyana US$750 million to preserve its forest.

A section of the gathering during the meeting

She pointed out that 15 per cent of the carbon credits or US$112 million will go towards Amerindian development.

“We want to ensure that everybody has access to all of the resources, to all government’s services. We want to improve your lives,” the minister pointed out.

Meanwhile, Guyana Water Incorporated’s (GWI) Hinterland Coordinator, Ramchand Jailall noted that this major undertaking forms part of Sustainable Development Goal Six which speaks to providing safe, reliable water to everyone by 2030.

Approximately 8 kilometres of pipeline will be installed from the wells to a huge elevated tank. Solar power will be utilised to pump the water from the well.

Sporting gear was also handed over to the community.

Regional Chairman, Brian Allicock, teams from the ministry and GWI, Toshao of the community, and contractors also attended the meeting.

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