Dear Editor,
Guyanese continue to waste water as though it’s sand in a desert, although there are some areas in Guyana which do not have an adequate water supply and some which don’t have any. I have made many complaints to the GWI, which does little or nothing to stop water wastage. Last year I penned a letter which was published in your paper about water wastage/usage but to my dismay and disappointment it did nothing to cause GWI any concern. Persons in Patentia and other villages on the West Bank and coast of Demerara continue to leave water running day and night. People do not see it necessary to fix broken and leaking pipes, thus allowing water to waste. I recently called GWI’s Pouderoyen location to report water being left on during the night, which in previous times used to be disconnected around 8pm. I was told by an official there, that water is being left on because when it’s turned off entirely air gets into the line and this can cause problems the following morning, which I can understand. But when he told me that four pumps are working during the night I had to ask why? The pressure is so high that black tanks overflow quickly and some people leave it to run over all night because they are too lazy to turn the water off, or just unconcerned about wasting precious water.
I would like to remind readers that over one billion people suffer and some die because of the unavailability of water. What would it take for anyone to turn off their taps when they are not using water? GWI needs to do more to help stop the wastage of water, in this case reduce the number of pumps being used during the nights to one. I would like to appeal to the Minister of Housing and Water to use his good offices to help stop the wastage of water in Guyana entirely.
Yours faithfully,
Anthea Spencer
