Residents of the D’Urban Backlands Squatting Area will soon have potable water as the Guyana Water Inc (GWI) will be putting down 24 standpipes.
GWI in a press release yesterday said that the squatting area aback the Chinese Embassy on Mandela Avenue, which is seeking to become regularized, is home to over 2500 persons. The residents currently access water from makeshift standpipes and the East Demerara Water Conservancy. While regularization is still to be carried out, GWI’s Managing Director, Dr. Richard Van West-Charles responded to a request by village representative Kyle Solomon to provide easy access to potable water to the families residing there.
After being made aware of the need in the area, the Managing Director, accompanied by Solomon, Dr. Astell Collins of the Ministry of the Presidency and other GWI officials conducted a walk-through in the community on Friday.
Later that day, a GWI technical team returned to map out the area and determine where lines are to be laid and standpipes erected.
On Saturday, the press release said that the team held a community meeting with residents to inform them of the works to be undertaken.
GWI’s Georgetown Manager Curtis Niles notified them that works will commence on January 31st with the clearing of lands. Following this, they will move to strategically erect a total of 24 stand pipes along the village tracks. He also said that some adjustments will have to be made to some property boundaries so as to facilitate the project.
Dr. Van West-Charles advised against tampering with GWI’s infrastructure.
“Once we proceed and we begin to lay out, then we can move to the stage where you become customers because you’ll have addresses and we can arrange for you to have access into where you live. However, when that occurs you have to commence paying”, Dr. Van West-Charles added.
The Managing Director also instructed residents to desist from constructing their sanitary facilities on the boundary of the conservancy. He added that GWI’s sanitation department will be contacted to assist with the construction of sanitary blocks and septic tanks.
Beneficiaries expressed gratitude.
Tamika Stephen said “I feel happy because I have five children and I does use the water from the blacka so they get ringworm so I carrying them to get treatment and sometimes I throw bleach but when I ain’t get money to buy bleach, it raise up back again. So I grateful and happy.”
“I live here a long time, I fetch so much water till my hand corn up so I really glad for the water and I like wear white clothes. I like at the back here and I glad they start put interest in the community”, said Ziggy London, who has been a resident there for over seven years.
