500 residents at Lust-en-Rust to finally receive potable water

…to benefit from improved & first-time water access

The Housing and Water Ministry is advancing works on the West Bank of Demerara (WBD), Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara), to provide improved water access as well as first-time access to hundreds of persons living in Lust-en-Rust.

A team comprising of Minister within the Housing and Water Ministry, Susan Rodrigues, along with a team from the Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI), visited residents along the WBD on Monday following a number of complaints about the poor quality, supply and non-supply of potable water.
“The complaints were numerous, so I wanted to get a firsthand look at the area, and I can see it is a very big scheme, and it is not very populated,” Minister Rodrigues told the media.
She added, “we want to ensure that those residents who are here know that we have heard your complaints, and we are trying to do all that we can do to restore water in the area so that the residents can be comfortable.”
The Minister pointed out that there is still a lot to be desired in the community and, as such, assured residents that major improvement in water quality, upgrades of roads, and housing are in the pipelines.
“Upon the visit, I realised that the entire scheme needs a lot of work not just in relations of water, but the roads are in a deplorable state, there are a lot of lots that are unoccupied,” Minister Rodrigues said, adding that her Ministry will bring plans on board to develop the entire scheme.
“In the future, going forward, we will have to try and coordinate better with GWI and CHPA to ensure that all of the works are going on simultaneously, so none of the agencies have to play catch up.”
Meanwhile, Director of Operations, Dwayne Shako has revealed that Lust-en-Rust and surrounding areas have been without proper water for some time now given that one of the wells has been out of operations.
Nevertheless, he noted that technicians are working to ensure that residents are connected and receiving quality water.
One resident, Amrit Jawahir, stated that he usually has to wait until it rains to get water.
“Right now, we have to be waiting on the rain or buy a tank of water which usually runs us for three days,” Jawahir explained.
Rawle Tucker, another resident, said that for over three years he was forced to utilise water from the nearby canal.
“At the back of my house have a trench that comes from the canal, and it is not purified water so, we are just taking a chance.”
Moreover, Vanessa Peters – a resident stated that she would have paid for water supply three months back, but never received any to date.
“Personally, I would have paid for water because I was told that you need to pay, and you will be connected, and we happily went to the office and paid, and we are not connected. The problem is this, some persons were connected, and I hope that when we are connected, we are connected fairly,” she concluded. (G1)