GWI engages Mahdia residents for design of new water system

– pledges to establish community office

The Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) has responded to a call by residents of Mahdia, Region Eight (Potaro-Siparuni) to improve access to water for their growing population and to establish a permanent presence in the community to address needs and issues that arise.

A team of officials, headed by Managing Director, Dr Richard Van West-Charles, travelled to Mahdia on Saturday to engage residents in a public meeting. Residents explained that they endured constant disruptions and low level of service owing to pipelines being broken during road works, clogged lines and unauthorised connections by miners.
The dry season also impacts heavily on the community. In addition, it was highlighted that the catchment area at the Salbora Creek and the existing reservoir have become insufficient to supply the increased population.
Dr Van West-Charles told community members that providing an improved water supply was part of the mandate of GWI. The Managing Director informed those gathered of the utility’s plan to drill a new well in the community so as to ensure adequate access for all.
In this regard, Dr Van West-Charles said community involvement was integral to moving forward. He called on the community members to share their knowledge with GWI’s engineers for the development of the water distribution system.
“I would like to have a representative group from the community to meet with engineers to agree on the design of the system…Those of you who have technical and community knowledge come together and decide on a suitable design,” he expressed.
The Managing Director instructed the residents to identify representatives to form a committee that  was capable of making recommendations to the engineers for the design of a system that could respond to the needs of Mahdia, while taking into account other existing sources of water. Representatives will be drawn from Central Mahdia, Campbelltown, Seven Miles, Danjou Hill and the Airstrip – all of which make up the entire community.
They are expected to provide GWI’s Hinterland Manager, Osei Manifold with the list of names by March 17, 2017, after which they are to produce a draft design by March 31. Another community meeting will be held on April 8 with a view to review and reach a consensus on the new design and plan.
The GWI Managing Director pointed out that “most of the towns are not planned first and because there is no planning, we have this situation, but that doesn’t mean that as human beings, we can’t reorder things.”
Meanwhile, residents are of the belief that the setting up of an office and having engineers stationed in the village would see their concerns being addressed in a timely manner, while ensuring the efficiency of contractors. However, the Managing Director revealed that this was already in the making.
GWI Executive Director of Finance, Jaigopaul Ram welcomed the residents’ input and pledged the company’s commitment to materialisation of an office in Mahdia. Dr Van West-Charles added that GWI officials would look at the feasibility of establishing the office within the next two months.
Dr Van West-Charles, who is also a physician, noted that aside from the need for increased access, water quality was of foremost importance and he would see to it that the water in Mahdia was tested regularly. He noted that President David Granger was clear on the issue of inequity between urban and rural communities and as such, “there’s no reason why the quality of water should be different than that in town”.