Dear Editor,
Over the past three months, every day the Guyana Water Inc (GWI) underground sewerage system in New Market Street (between Main and Carmichael Streets) has been overflowing leaving raw sewage floating in the gutters. Not only are residents subjected to the constant foul smell of raw sewage, but also with a little rain the gutters overflow leaving human excrement floating onto the road and parapets and into yards.
A few weeks ago with heavy rain, the parapets were flooded with at least ankle height water. There is a school in the vicinity. Imagine the children have to walk in water contaminated by sewage to enter and leave their classrooms. In addition, the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) Country Office is affected as the said gutter runs alongside its office. What image are we painting of our country to the foreigners?
More disgustingly, one would least of all expect this to be the description of the environment immediately outside the official residence of His Excellency, the President of Guyana.
In light of the above, I have one question for the GWI’s management: Why is it taking so long to remedy this problem after numerous complaints and reference numbers? We would accept that GWI workers visited the site and seemed to be working on fixing the problem on numerous occasions. But are they incapable of doing so? I wish to call on the GWI management to look into this problem.
There have been complaints of vandalism of sewerage facilities in and around Georgetown, but this is a clear case where nothing as such has happened, yet residents are forced to live in discomfort because of negligence or perhaps incompetence on the part of the GWI.
Carifesta X is only 81 days away; the government is making a huge effort to ensure the successful hosting of this mega event, and issues like these would only serve to negate this effort and leave visitors with a foul stench of Georgetown in their memories.
Mr Editor, I am attaching photographs of this nuisance for your consideration and publication. (Ed: One of these is reproduced above.)
Yours faithfully,
Ryan Juman
Editor’s note
We are sending a copy of this letter to the CEO of Guyana Water Inc, Mr Karan Singh, for any comments he may wish to make.
