600 fire hydrants restored in Georgetown

The Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) has restored 600 fire hydrants in Georgetown; and in the coming weeks, will be doing same across the country, according to GWI Managing Director Dr Richard Van West-Charles.
He noted that while it was not directly the GWI’s responsibility to replace the hydrants, the company embarked on doing same in a project costing it $25 million.
“We have done a lot with respect to the fire hydrants. We have replaced a number of fire hydrants throughout Georgetown. The fire hydrants are not really a defining responsibility of GWI, but we have taken up that mantle and refurbished more than 600 fire hydrants throughout the city,” the GWI head declared.
He related that in most cases the hydrants were vandalised, but he said those refurbished will be maintained, and an additional 500 hydrants will be restored in the near future.
He disclosed that there was some collaboration with the Guyana Fire Service (GFS) to rehabilitate the fire hydrants.
He also said that new communities are earmarked for installation of hydrants, as attention is being given to the exercise to make it a mainstream activity. In this regard, the GWI is seeking to extend collaboration with the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA) among other agencies.
“We’re seeking to work with CH&PA and other agencies to ensure that fire hydrants become a mainstream activity for new communities which are emerging; but at the same time, it is something that we have to look at as the society’s development improves,” he added. In regard to water quality, the GWI, it was learnt, has secured a recommendation from the Guyana National Bureau of Standards to be certified for its testing laboratories, and is now working to achieve standards which are set out by the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO).