A water transmission line broke near to the Bank of Guyana yesterday and GWI said that it is this year intensifying efforts to replace the over 100-year-old pipes in Georgetown with the support of Central Government.
This is according to the Guyana Water Inc’s (GWI) Chief Executive Officer, Shaik Baksh, who yesterday visited the site of the breakage.
GWI was hoping to complete work on the site last evening. He was accompanied by Senior Engineer in the Special Projects Unit of the Ministry of Public Works, Colin Gittens. The Ministry has been playing a key role in restoring the roadways when these repair works are done.
Baksh said that over the last few months there have been several breakages within the same area which experiences heavy vehicular traffic and these breaks have been causing the deterioration of the roadway. He stressed that repairs to such mains only serve as temporary fixes, as what is needed is the total replacement of these cast iron mains. This, however, is very costly and cannot be done just over a one year period, he cautioned, according to the press release.
Nevertheless, GWI, with financial support from the government has already begun the replacement of the transmission mains.
Baksh said the replacement of these mains is high on GWI’s agenda and three such projects have been catered for in the 2021 budget. These are the replacement of transmission mains from the Shelterbelt to Church Street, which will lead to Water Street, the Shelterbelt through Cemetery Road and the Shelterbelt to Cummings Street. GWI is also hoping to secure funding for the replacement of mains from Cummings Street to Water Street.
