Georgetown residents can look towards the alleviation of sewage overflows as the tender document for the US$10M Georgetown Sani-tation Improvement Pro-gramme is being finalised to pave the way for tenders to be invited.
An agreement has been signed between the Guyana Government and the IDB in the sum of US$10M for the improvement of the George-town Sewerage System’s operational performance and the Guyana Water Incorpo-rated (GWI) is the executing agency, a GWI press release stated.
According to GWI’S Executive Director of Capital Investment and Planning Ramchand Jailal, the tender document for the George-town Sanitation Improve-ment Programme is being finalised. “Once this stage is completed, tenders will be invited from suitably qualified contractors in order to proceed on implementation,” Jailal is quoted as saying.
Jailal said further that this programme will assist in alleviating some of the sewage overflows currently being experienced in the city and it will be a major improvement for Georgetown residents.
Components of the programme, the release stated, will include the complete replacement of the 5.5 KM sewerage ring main in Georgetown; replacement of all delivery mains; purchase and installation of additional pumps for the 24 pumping stations to ensure adequate pressure and operational reliability and improvement to the electrical connection.
It will also include assessment and emergency rehabilitation of street sewers in selected areas and purchase of maintenance and operating equipment, the release added.
Moreover, the implementation of the programme will include the strengthening of GWI’s Wastewater Manage-ment and Energy Efficiency.
This component will involve development of an asset management implementation strategy and staff training programmes on wastewater operation, maintenance practices and energy use.
Meanwhile, the contract will also include public awareness campaigns that will target schools and business owners, and this component is significant because of abuse by customers who continue to dump solid waste, which affects the efficiency of the system and results in overflows.
It is imperative that these structural improvements provided by the programme be complemented by the proper use of the system by customers in order to achieve maximum efficiency, GWI noted.
