Residents of Mahdia, Region Eight are facing several challenges relating to garbage collection and disposal, water service and the supply of electricity.
The Potaro-Siparuni community was declared a town on October 25th, 2018.
Several residents spoke to this newspaper on the condition of anonymity. They told Stabroek News that for over a month no water was coming through their taps. Mahdia is supplied with water from Salbora, a natural reservoir located in the Ebini Hills on the southeastern periphery of the town. One resident informed Stabroek News that the Guyana Water Inc [GWI] was apprised of the situation in Mahdia, and following technical works undertaken at Salbora water distribution was recently restored. Prior to the works, a GWI tanker was distributing water to households to alleviate the hardships being encountered. A few individuals grabbed the opportunity to access water from Salbora and resold it to other residents.
But a resident complained that even with the resumption of water distribution through the mains only those who live close to Salbora are benefitting. Other residents from Central Mahdia and Seven Miles cannot yet access water from their mains. Another source attributed the current low levels of water to the El Nino phenomenon.
“With the water issue, they are presently digging a well in Campbell-town but the main source of water is Salbora. However, due to the dry weather the reservoir is very low and residents in Mahdia have to purchase water from persons who collect water from Salbora and sell at $5000 a tank, that’s one of the black tank,” one resident. “Right now we have to buy water at $6000 a black tank. They have a canter that go to Salbora, the place where we get the water from and we just order from them and they fill up our tank… it’s affecting us because it is very costly,” another resident said.
Another resident blamed the current water crisis on the effects of El Nino. “We always have water issues in Mahdia when its dry weather, but this is the longest dry weather we have experienced… and because of the prolonged dry season Salbora Creek has run dry. At the moment it is just a little stream.” The resident also disclosed that promises were made by a government official to have more wells dug.
Electricity
Regarding the issue of electricity, business owners and residents said that they are experiencing increased power outages. Along with the blackouts they are receiving higher than normal electricity bills. Some residents have reported that the Mahdia Power and Light Company [MPL] charges $100 per kilowatt.
“The electricity, we didn’t [always] have a problem but now we are experiencing some difficulties; we have three generators running. My concern is that there are three generators, and when one is down, [we need to] get it up before the other ones go down… so, that we can always have three running and even if you have a problem with one, the rest can supply so that we won’t have this inconsistency,” one business owner said. One resident confirmed that another generator went down two days ago.
Another proprietor claimed that blackouts have been frequent for a while, sometimes lasting for an entire day. “I don’t know what the issue with the light is. We have blackouts from mornings and it has been happening for a little while”, the proprietor said.
Added to the inconsistent electricity supply, another business proprietor said they normally pay a large bill at the end of each month. “I think in Mahdia we pay the most for electricity in the country. The last light bill we had came in at $50,000 and other businesses normally pay over $100,000.” The hope now, according to them, is the restoration of consistent electricity supply with the aim to have their consumption halved.
Garbage disposal
“For the past three weeks, we didn’t have anyone collecting the garbage. It’s only yesterday that garbage was collected. We heard that the tractor that they used broke down and they didn’t have workers to pick up the garbage but yesterday, I saw them come and it seemed like it’s going back to normal,” one resident told the Stabroek News. The issue is a recurring one, according to the resident. That resident also related that they own a small business and for weeks their garbage piled up; that business owner was presented with the option of paying $3000 per barrel for disposal which is some $2000 more than what they would pay the council. “The garbage issue. I think they had a labour issue where they probably didn’t have the manpower to dispose of the garbage in the area”, the resident added.
One source told Stabroek News that the previous Mahdia City Council received a subvention from the APNU+AFC government but this was not continued when the PPP/C assumed office in 2020. The source explained that there was a consensus among councillors and residents that with the new Mayor and Deputy Mayor coming from within the ruling party the government would have resumed providing the subvention to the Council but this has not materialized. One resident said that the issue is political. “The garbage issue is that the [present] council met an empty treasury in Mahdia. When the Mayor got in there, she had no finances to work with. I was at one of those meetings where two ministers came and they said they would have gotten an emergency budget to give to her to operate until the budget passed. But the garbage is being collected now. For two days straight I saw the garbage tractor there working. This is the only reason why the council is so way back on their garbage collection.”
The resident pointed out that the issues started with the last Mayor. “The APNU, they were in there before… it was controlled by them since they had won the 2018 local government elections in Mahdia. It was controlled by them. Now, if they (APNU Councillors) aren’t budgeting for stuff they need, they aren’t going to these meetings to make representation, how will they get? Now, if there is a Government in power, you have to go somewhere at a roundtable and ask for money… You can’t expect the Government to come and say ‘we see your problems, take $20M and do what you have to do’. If they asked the Party in power would have taken the credit but that’s not how it works.” The resident said that if the Government and the Council do not want to work with each other, then the people will suffer. The resident added that some of the issues could have been solved but politics got in the way.
Mayor Eslyn Romascindo-Hussain concurred with the information that residents provided to Stabroek News. The Mayor explained that the absence of garbage collection [and disposal] is indeed as a result of an empty treasury but the council is trying to get some assistance from the Ministry of Local Govern-ment and Regional Development.
“Our tractor giving problems… our income is less than our expenditure. So, we are having a few difficulties but we are trying to get some assistance from the Ministry and so far, we got through to a point. So, we are hoping that in a month’s time, we can get everything back in working order,” Romascindo-Hussain said. According Romascindo-Hussain, there is an expectation that a subvention and a grant from the Government will finance the Council’s programme for the remainder of the year. When asked to explain why only now the town’s treasury is being replenished, the Mayor said that remains unclear.
“A few years ago, I was told that the Municipality used to get a grant in assistance to pay staff but that doesn’t happen anymore. So, it is only money that comes in on a daily basis from garbage collection and only two or three times you will get grants. So, because of our small revenue base and higher expenditure… you have to pay staff, you have to pay labourers and it’s above our expenses to maintain the tractors, then you have a light bill to pay and water bill. So, it’s a lot.” The Mayor said she hopes for assistance to come soon so that some of the issues can be fixed.
“We were asking for assistance to pay the workers, the municipality workers and the admin staff but the problem we facing is that it’s a new council and the signatories and everything has to change. So, they are working on the process”, the mayor said. She added that the process has been slow and there is hope that that it will end soon and she can be fully in control. For now, the Mayor said that there is an immediate need for a grant to pay staff along with other expenses while also having a new administrative building since they are currently renting one. When it comes to the electrical issues, Romascindo-Hussain said she cannot speak on that issue since she is not aware of what has happened but the matter has been reported to the authorities. On the issue of water, the Mayor maintained that GWI is aware of the issue and is currently working on it. She pointed out that GWI had installed a pump which assisted the gravity flow, however, this will not fully fix the problem as it’s a temporary solution. As of now, while there is the dry season, the Mayor said that there will not be a consistent flow of water and some locations will not receive water. More wells, she said, are currently under construction.
