The Guyana Water Inc (GWI) on Friday recommissioned the Moblissa water supply system on the Soesdyke-Linden Highway, bringing potable water into the homes of close to a hundred persons.
The water supply system was recommissioned to the tune of $1.5 million and was initiated upon the intervention of Minister within the Ministry of Housing and Water Susan Rodrigues after a visit to the community during President Irfaan Ali’s outreach to Linden in January.
At the simple commissioning ceremony held yesterday, residents said they were happy to have easy access to water as its lack had put a strain on their daily activities over the years.
In her brief remarks at the ceremony, Rodrigues stated that under the previous government there was an ambitious plan to provide water to residents but while part of the infrastructure was completed, the remainder of the project was stalled. According to the minister, after the outreach she contacted GWI’s Chief Executive Officer Shaik Baksh and requested that an assessment be conducted to determine the feasibility of having the well back in operation.
Following the assessment, a work plan was drafted and during preparatory works, there was the procurement and installation of two 1,000-gallon storage tanks, a photovoltaic system, and stand pipes and mini distribution network for households nearby.
Rodrigues noted that villagers should regard the recommissioning of the well as the first phase of the water distribution in the village. She pointed out that with houses sparsely spread across the village, they are unable to install an effective distribution network. However, Rodrigues assured that various options were being examined, including the recommendation by villagers residing at the front of the village that a second well should be sunk to provide additional access to water.
A second well will also serve the community school and health centre.
Roxanne Smartt, a villager who was present at the ceremony, while expressing gratitude said the project could have been completed sooner but for reasons unknown it was stalled. The woman, who is a farmer, lamented that they had to fetch water back and forth for farming and domestic purposes.
“I used to have to fetch water, three wheelbarrows of water to water my garden and for home use. I wasn’t able to fetch water last year so I didn’t plant but now that we have water in our yards I can start planting this year,” the woman said.
Another villager related that in the past they had to walk with their generators and connect to the water supply system before they could access water from the well during the dry season.
“It was difficult man during those years, because you not only had to fetch water but you also had to fetch a generator and pump to get some water. We are happy the well is working now and some residents have water in their yards,” another resident noted.
The recommissioned well gives residents access to water for 24 hours a day.
The recommissioned well was first drilled in 2009 under the Linden Economic Advancement Programme (LEAP Project) but stopped working over the years. It was related that in 2017, plans were afoot to have the well up and servicing the community but those plans fell through.
A Department of Public Information report back in January reported GWI’s Regional Manager for Region 10, Rawle Friday as saying that the agency had rehabilitated one of the community’s wells and had erected a trestle.
However, plans to install four, 1000-gallon tanks to store water and a pipeline network during the first and second phases of the project were postponed.
Friday had said that those plans needed to be readjusted since the location of the trestle would not enable all of the residents to access potable water.
