Caribbean Water, Wastewater Conference: Over 300 delegates to meet in Guyana to tackle regional water woes

As Guyana prepares to host the 32nd Annual Caribbean Water and Wastewater Association (CWWA) Conference, Housing and Water Minister Collin Croal shared his intention of developing an integrated approach to address water-related concerns across the Region and on the global scale.
Croal made these remarks on Thursday during the media launch of the conference.
To be held at the Georgetown Marriott Hotel from October 23-27, this conference will provide a platform for knowledge exchange and discussion as over 300 delegates and 80 presenters from the Caribbean and internationally are expected to attend and 100 booths are to be featured.
“This year’s conference will bring together governments by way of their representatives, technicians, service providers, investors and other stakeholders in a space that will allow for an integrated and collaborative approach to tackle the Region’s water woes,” Croal said.
Croal expressed his excitement at the prospect of meeting fellow Ministers during the 19th High-Level Forum of Caribbean Ministers Responsible for Water, one of three high-level forums included within the conference’s schedule.
“This two-day meeting will provide a forum for us to discuss critical outputs from the regional strategic action plan, as well as allow us to develop required planning framework and supporting implementation strategies to meet both the global and regional targets for the sector,” Croal said.
The Minister added his hope for the Ministers’ shared views to lead to affordable ways to meet their goals.

Water management challenges
Minister within the Local Government and Regional Development Ministry, Anand Persaud echoed this need for an integrated approach as the Caribbean Region continues to face water management challenges.
The inability of Governments within the Region to address these challenges, he relayed, are largely due to increased consumerism, inadequate funding, lack of technical knowledge, lack of institutional capacity and limited land area.
“In many cases, a lack of strategic approach has resulted in the continuation of the basic operational challenges of insufficient landfill capacity, inadequate collection, transport and disposal of waste, little public education and lack of enforcement of waste management regulations,” Persaud said.
“Beyond the issues of advocacy, there is a need to focus on long-term comprehensive and integrated solutions,” he added.

Significant progress
Meanwhile, Croal also highlighted Guyana’s significant progress in improving the distribution of clean, treated water across the country.
“Guyana’s development agenda for the water sector is hinged on improving the distribution of clean water to unserved and underserved communities throughout the country. In this regard, our coastal water treatment programme aims to increase treated water coverage from Regions Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam) to Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) and Bartica proper for Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni), to 90 per cent within or just under the next three years,” Croal said.
To achieve this goal, he noted that the Government is constructing 13 new treatment plants and rehabilitating and expanding 13 existing treatment facilities, while new wells are scheduled to be drilled along the course.
He added that continuous efforts are also being made to improve water supply in the hinterland as well.