The Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) is to restructure its tariff system, which may lead to a possible increase in rates, but Water Minister Harrinarine Nawbatt said the increase in tariffs by the power company would in no way be responsible for this.
The minister has not set a timeline for the probable increases, but told members of the media at a press conference yesterday that any such decision would first have to win the approval of the Public Utilities Commission (PUC).
“GWI is not going to increase rates as a result of the Guyana Power and Light increases, but this does not mean that rates will not be restructured,” he said.
Following the termination of a management contract with Severn Trent, the company contracted under a UK-funded 3.2 million pounds sterling grant, DFID hired a group consultancy, Castalia, which worked with GWI’s board to prepare a turnaround plan.
It was in this turnaround plan that the recommendation came for the restructuring of the utility’s tariff system. Yesterday Nawbatt said the plan was discussed at the level of the finance subcommittee of Cabinet and also at Cabinet and still needed refining. The minister said he hoped the process would be completed by the end of the month and the next step would be towards its full implementation and access to funding from donor agencies.
He explained however that the onus was on making the system more manageable for the water company, given its current nature. But the possibility exists that this may see an increase in rates,” he added.
Meanwhile, questioned as to when the water company should become completely self reliant, Nawbatt said the turnaround plan stretches over a five-year period and by the end of its fourth year the utility company should be able to sustain itself adequately.
However, in view of the increased electricity rates, the minister said the subsidy given to the company would have to be increased, since at the moment that is how energy rates are covered. According to him, the company’s operational costs are covered by its own revenue.
On the issue of self-generation, as floated by the company in the past, Operations Manager Sizwe Jackson, in response to a question, indicated that the company would usually have stand-by systems at key locations and cited the Shelter Belt station at Vlissengen Road and another at New Amsterdam, as examples.
However, it has since found it more feasible to depend on the power company.
“It is better for us to depend on GPL, since it is difficult in terms of management and looking after fuel and the generators would have to be managed, so we have resorted to using the standby only when there is blackout,” he explained.
The Ministry of Housing and Water is also in the process of re-activating overhead tanks on the East Coast Demerara. Nawbatt said to date the tank at La Bonne Intention has gone through the process and so a number of households in surrounding areas have been receiving water at increased levels.
He said the ministry also intended to do the same with the overhead tanks at Annandale, Ithaca (West Bank Berbice), Sparendaam and Strath-Campbell.
Of the $30 million budgeted last year for the improvement of the water supply at Linden, Nawbatt said, $6 million had remained and has been put towards the installation of pumps, a project, which should be completed next month.
The ministry has also acknowledged that it has not done well in its hinterland programme, which the minister attributed to some setbacks in funding. However, he said that government is in discussions with DFID for funding to be restarted.
In addition, he said the ministry had started to train persons in the Rupununi area to maintain water facilities in those areas. Those persons, he said, receive a $4,000 monthly stipend.
He said contracts have been signed for water treatment plants to be set up in Lima in Essequibo, Vergenoegen in Demerara and Cotton Tree in Berbice.
Managing Director Karan Singh is currently in Japan for the opening and evaluation of tenders for the second phase of the Corriverton Water Project. The first phase covered from Number 51 to Number 74 Villages and the second phase will cover from Number 74 Village to Moleson Creek. The Japanese government had also funded the first phase. (Heppilena Ferguson)