Govt commissions $22M water systems at Hackney, Friendship

– GWI on track to deliver 10 new water supply systems to Pomeroon communities – Min. Rodrigues

The Guyana Water Inc (GWI) is well on track to delivering 12 new water supply systems to communities in the Pomeroon area of Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam), according to Minister within the Housing and Water Ministry, Susan Rodrigues.
Already at the halfway mark for 2024, the Housing and Water Ministry has, through GWI, completed two of the 12 systems, while the others are at different stages.
On Friday, Rodrigues commissioned water supply systems at Hackney and Friendship, villages in the Pomeroon River, to the tune of $10 million and $12 million respectively. These new facilities will together serve some 500 residents.

Sharing in that historic moment were Region Two Vice Chairman Humace Odit, Prime Minister’s Representative Arnold Adams, GWI Hinterland Services Director Ramchand Jailall, and other technical staff of the agency who were instrumental in making the project a success. The new systems are powered by photovoltaic systems.
Among the other villages slated to benefit from similar investments are Marlborough, Karawab, St. John’s, Jacklow, Abrams Creek, St. Monica, Bethany, Dredge Creek, Siriki, Kabakaburi, Wakapao, David James Scheme, Akawini-Baracaro, and St Deny’s (Coastland).

At the ceremony commissioning these systems, Minister Rodrigues lauded the GWI for being able to deliver the two facilities promptly. She said, “I am pleased and proud that we have been able to deliver this well in a very short time…It was back in February, and we had just started the work, and this community….”
During her visit to Hackney earlier this year, Rodrigues had seen the needs of the residents and the hardships they faced as a result of the prolonged dry season. Since taking office, the minister said, the Ministry has stuck to strategic plans and, so far, has been delivering results that are significantly improving the quality of life of residents of the hinterland and coastlands. She also reported that the agency is well on the way to meeting the UN Sustainable Development Goal of 100% access to potable water 5 years earlier than the 2030 deadline.
“We are on a mission to deliver this in the hinterland and coastland in 2025, which is 5 years earlier than the UN. While on the coastland, we intend to increase the coverage for treated water”, the Minister disclosed.
With this in mind, she added that the agency continues to strengthen capacity, as it has invested in rigs to drill wells in the hinterland and far-flung communities.
“In-house drilling has accelerated the works in communities. In the past three years, we have spent $3.4 billion, and 75 new wells were drilled, benefitting some 15,000 residents with first-time access to potable water”.
The minister has said that, this year, another $1.4 billion is being spent to construct 40 new wells, and residents along the Essequibo Coast would benefit from two water treatment plants which would increase the coverage for treated water.