Options for the use of the natural gas from a well blowout at Diamond on the East Bank of Demerara are being discussed, according to a release yesterday from the Ministry of Natural Resources.
In the meantime, residents from five houses damaged in the June, 2018 eruption are still to be compensated.
The release said that Minister of Natural Resources, Raphael Trotman and a team from the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission comprising Chairman of the Board, Stanley Ming, and Commissioner, Newell Dennison, and others, on Saturday visited the site of the eruption at Lot 1200, Section A, Block X, Diamond, East Bank Demerara to assess the work done and engage residents in the area about their concerns. The release said that five adjacent properties suffered structural damage in 2018 June when the gas erupted. The homeowner was allegedly illegally drilling a water well when the blowout took place.
The release said that the Minister, was able to view first-hand the successful work done and was high in praise for the GGMC geologists and Environmental Protection Agency and Guyana Water Inc technicians and engineers who wrestled with and overcame the eruption in June, 2018.
Following a clean-up exercise in 2018, the engineers moved to the recovery phase. The release said that the large crater left from the eruption was sand-filled, capped with cement, and following this, a relief gas tank system was installed.
The release added that the Minister and team undertook to do some remedial works in the area to aid affected residents and discussed options for the use or the gas, which include, running pipelines to homes in Diamond for domestic use or converting the gas to a natural gas generator for electricity supply to the National Grid.
Diamond resident, Soownauth ‘Water Man’ Gorakh, had reportedly dug the well some time ago and was using it for domestic purposes when the blowout occurred.
Gorakh had claimed, via a statement issued by the Region Four Administration that he and his wife, Tulabhaduree, had attempted to dig the well after experiencing water troubles. The woman has claimed that the family had suffered over $20 million in damage.
The Gorakhs’ immediate neighbours also suffered damage to varying degrees. One has since moved to court.
