Dear Editor,
My personal experience with the bilge that was being supplied by Guyana Water Inc to the Cornelia Ida residents is one of abhorrence. More than 20,000 residents occupy this small area and all are tremendously affected by the contaminated water. The GWI is fully aware of the problem, and every now and again they conduct “flushing exercises” in the area. These exercises are pointless if the problem exists at the actual source where the water is being acquired, and my investigations suggest that this is the case.
In any developed or developing country you will discover that water from subterranean levels has to be decontaminated before it is distributed directly to the various households for human consumption. However this process of distillation is overlooked by the company, thus every household utilizes the contaminated water for lack of another option. Where did the pride of producing an excellent service and the feeling of irrefutable social achievement go?
What is needed is a water treatment facility that will provide all the residents with “Safe, adequate and affordable water,” which is the mission statement of the GWI. Sadly, the company isn’t prudent enough to live up to this statement.
In all the speeches and statements made by the government at their campaign meetings, no mention was ever made to provide all citizens of the Republic of Guyana with clean, potable water. Apparently they believe that they have already achieved this crucial end and have already passed this milestone. In fact GWI always tries to cut costs by implementing substandard work in isolated areas. Some may refute this claim but the government is responsible for it. Let the folks who attended the PPP meeting at Stewartville tell me if Messrs Jagdeo or Ali promised them an improvement in service from the GWI? No they didn’t.
The folks of Cornelia Ida, Anna Catherina and Leonora should think twice about voting for the PPP. If the government and GWI didn’t invest in a water treatment facility when they discovered that these communities needed potable water, they will not do it when they get into power. Every elections period the government gives out contracts to incompetent, greedy contractors to construct primary and secondary roads, build schools and hospitals, build bridges, etc, and within a year some of this infrastructure fails and taxpayers’ dollars are wasted.
Yours faithfully,
Mark Tiwari