Region 5 utility woes: GPL, Fire Service “must iron out their differences” – Regional Chairman

Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice) Chairman Vickchand Ramphal has called on the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) and the Guyana Fire Service at Onverwagt to iron out their differences.
He made the call on Thursday during a meeting of the Regional Democratic Council (RDC).
Ramphal was responding to accusations levelled at the Fire Service Department at Onverwagt.

Emerson Benjamin, a regional Councillor and also an employee of GPL, speaking in his capacity of the latter, said he was not targeting the Fire Service as he made mention of a recent fire at Rosignol on the West Bank of Berbice where two buildings were destroyed.
Benjamin said he was at his office, which is situated next to the Onverwagt Fire Station and saw when the fire tenders pulled off, however, it was not until half an hour after that the Fire Department telephoned GPL asking the utility company to take off the power in the area where the fire was raging.
“If they have a fire even if it is a prank, they should call us so we can go together because the Fire Service is just a stone’s throw away from GPL. The Fire Service cannot act if GPL doesn’t terminate the power.”
Noting that the Officer in Charge of the Onverwagt Fire Service was at the meeting, Ramphal pointed out the importance of the presence of GPL whenever there is a fire.
However, he lashed back at GPL, saying that on many occasions when they are called they cannot respond in a timely manner.
“Sometimes GPL is not available and not because they don’t want to come but because they only have one vehicle and when you call them, they might be in another area and it will take a while. Systems can be put in place to address the issue with the Fire Service,” Ramphal noted as he called on the two agencies to meet and address the issue.
Meanwhile, Benjamin also lashed out at Guyana Water Inc (GWI), saying that over the past two weeks, some residents have been without water.
Apart from that, he said the quality of water being delivered, when it is, is of a very poor quality as he pointed to the high iron content.
“We are not getting water at all. I know during the dry season the pressure would drop but we are not getting any at all. Sometimes you have to wait until midnight to get some water and GWI water you can’t store it so that you could full a bucket to bathe later, because when you look at it, it looks like it curdle – you can’t bathe with that. The iron content in the water, you can’t use it,” he said.
Chairman Ramphal informed the house that two new water treatment plants are to be established in the region shortly.
One is to be placed at Bath Settlement and should have the capacity to provide treated water up to Rising Sun which is 31 villages to the east. Bath Settlement Treatment Plant would also provide treated water to villages east right onto the West Bank of Berbice.
“The plant is being constructed at Bath Settlement because of the availability of land there. The project is already at the tendering stage so the project will soon commence. I don’t know the location of where the next one will be as yet,” he told the RDC.
Ramphal told Benjamin and the RDC that instead of needlessly waiting on the monthly meetings to raise such concerns, they should approach his office directly to have issues of an urgent nature addressed. (G4)