Port Kaituma River contaminated – GWI

– residents, farmers continue to suffer due to lack of water

Residents of Port Kaituma, Region One (Barima-Waini), are fuming over the lack of water supply in their community as a result of the prolonged dry weather.
The residents are forced to walk several miles to the only operational water source in the community and fetch water for their daily consumption.
The only alternative source of water available to them is the river, however, they were informed that the Guyana Water Incorporated halted the pumping of water from that source due to possible contamination.
The company in an advertisement on Sunday in the daily newspapers advised residents in Port Kaituma to desist from using the river water following the discovery of possible contamination.
The company noted that samples have been collected and will be sent for testing both locally and overseas and the results of those tests will determine the way forward.
The company also advised that potable water is available from the Port Kaituma Pump via a dispenser and residents are being urged to make full use of that water source.
Meanwhile, residents said that this source of water is not adequate to service the entire community and residents of the outlying areas have difficulty in accessing that source.
“We were using the river alone because that water source they advising people to use is far away from where we living. Is months of dry weather and residents are complaining all the time but nothing is being done. GWI is doing nothing for us here. The springs are dry. No pumping could be done. We are suffering here for basic water,” Trevor De Costa, a resident, told Guyana Times on Monday.
The dry weather season continues to affect residents and farmers in hinterland communities throughout the country. Residents of Region One have been complaining of the negative impacts of the lack of access to potable water. Residents and farmers said enough is not being done by the water company to offer substantial relief.
Another resident, Patricia Mendonca, who also spoke to this publication, said that her husband depends on farming to take care of his family and since the shortage of water, he has been unable to do so. “My husband can’t look after his crops properly. We don’t even have water to drink so imagine where we finding water from [to] do anything else. We are pleading for help. More work needs to be done by GWI in supplying these communities with water in the dry spell,” she said.
Meanwhile, farmers in that and other hinterland communities continue to suffer losses and are facing extreme difficulty in feeding their families.
Region One Chairman, Brentnol Ashley had told Guyana Times that the dry spell is severely affecting all communities in the region as the water level of the GWI springs dropped drastically and pumping is being done periodically once per week and three times per week in some areas. This, he said, continues to have harsh effects on residents since there is very limited access to potable water. He added that as a result of the dry spell, the rivers are salted, making it impossible for residents of riverine communities to access. Subsequently, some residents are forced to walk for miles to access the limited water supply available in springs.
He also confirmed that the lack of water is affecting farmers in the area who depend on farming for their livelihood. Guyana Times was unable to reach the public relations department of GWI for a comment on the efforts being made by the company to offer relief to the residents in that and other hinterland communities.