Govt to construct $400M water treatment plant at Six Miles, Reg. 7

– $12M water system for Daag Point

Government will be investing some $400 million to construct a new water treatment plant at Six Miles, Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni), in a bid to supply residents of Five Miles to Seven Miles with advanced access to treated water.
Housing and Water Minister Collin Croal made this announcement during an outreach at Bartica Community Centre on Friday.
In Bartica, $21 million has already been spent to upgrade the inline filters upgrading the intake capacity from the river to the treatment plant.
“But what you have here now is not sufficient. It does not cover the coverage for every resident, that goes all the way to 7 miles,” Minister Croal told those gathered.
“The tenders are open, the award will be made sometime in March; so, the commencement date will be in April for a new treatment plant to suffice with the current system that we have, that will see areas such as Five Miles and Seven Miles will be getting full supply from that when we finished with that investment,” Croal explained.

Further, he pointed out that significant resources have been invested in expanding access to treated water over the years, as only 30 per cent of the region’s population had access to drinkable water in 2020.
In the hinterland, $95 million was invested in 2021 to increase treated water access in several areas, and another $250 million was invested in 2022. “(There will be) another $190 million (invested) for hinterland water distribution,” Croal has added.
In three years, $535 million has been invested in the water sector; and, this year, another $345 million has been budgeted to increase water coverage in the hinterland.
“By the end of this year, $880 million will be directly invested in hinterland water for Region Seven, increasing the coverage from 30 per cent to 90 per cent. Our commitment is that we must have 100 per cent access by 2025,” Croal explained.
Minister Croal and his team on Friday visited the site where the new water treatment plant will be constructed. He
also visited the site where a new well is being drilled at Daag Point, within the region, to provide enhanced access to treated water to some 400 residents. During that visit, residents interacted with the team and were assured by the Minister that the project would be completed and put into operation soon.
Already, the well has been successfully drilled and activated, but some ancillary works to be done include
installation of a new PV system, including a panel rack frame, solar panels, pump, well master, new storage tanks on the existing metal trestle, and interconnection to the pipe network.
Additionally, a perimeter fence will be constructed, and 3000 metres of 50mm PVC pipes and 1000 metres of 19mm PVC pipes, with 60 service connections, will be installed. The estimated budget for the execution of these ancillary works is $12 million.