Residents of Santa Rosa and in the Moruca Sub-District, Region One (Barima – Waini), will soon benefit from an improved water supply and delivery system.
Minister of Housing and Water, Collin Croal interacting with residents of Region One – Photo Credit: Ministry of Housing and Water)
Minister of Housing and Water, Collin Croal, along with a team from Guyana Water Inc., made a brief visit to the Moruca Sub-District to assess the situation on the ground and find a solution to address the water woes facing residents.
After careful inspection of the pump station at Santa Rosa, it was noted that the current system could facilitate some amount of expansion, which would mean better distribution. As such, in the coming weeks, expansion work to the distribution and transmission main will commence.
Minister Croal said that currently residents of Santa Rosa only benefit from four hours per day water supply.
“As it is right now, residents are getting water in the morning from 6 am to 8 am and in the afternoon from 2 to 4 pm, with the extension to the system, we will increase the hours from 5 am to 9 am and in the afternoon from 2 to 6 pm” the Minister explained.
According to the Minster, the materials needed for the expansion project have already arrived in the Region, and works will begin in the coming weeks.
This expansion is expected to serve Santa Rosa Island, Sheba, and One Mile. Meanwhile, the GWI team continues to conduct its needs assessment in other villages in the sub-district to prepare more long-term solutions for water issues facing residents.
Also, at Mora, within the coming months’ works will commence for a distribution network in that village. The Minister also visited the village of Kamwatta to assess the situation there, having received some complaints.
Given that village’s unique needs, Minister Croal explained that an independent well is needed to meet the demands of that village and other surrounding satellite villages. However, the provision will be made for that in the 2021 national budget.
This recent visit is a follow up to a visit made by the Minister and team earlier in August. The first visit was made to the Mabaruma Sub-district, where the Minister sought to address similar issues facing residents. Coming out of that visit, a team from GWI commenced a needs assessment exercise in the Region, that data will serve as a guide for future plans for the water sector in Region One.
