Work progressing on major water projects countrywide -Baksh
Stabroek News
August 27, 2002
As part of the modernisation programme for the water sector, a number of major projects are moving ahead in the country, allowing for large ground and overhead facilities which store treated water, Minister of Housing and Water Shaik Baksh has said.
According to the Government Information Agency (GINA) on Monday, during its television programme "Answers", the Housing and Water Minister said that at Pouderoyen, West Coast Demerara, there are ground storage facilities, while at Rose Hall, Berbice, there are elevated storage facilities.
Water treatment plants are being constructed because the government is concerned about the quality of water in the country, Baksh said.
He was quoted by GINA as saying that "water treatment plants are being built with storage facilities and automatic systems."
Some 60,000 residents will be provided with treated water when the plant at Rose Hall is completed and that will be a significant event on the Corentyne Coast, Baksh noted.
"We want to see that people can drink water from taps, once the distribution lines are changed and water factories are built," GINA reported the Minister as saying.
Meanwhile, some 60,000 residents along the West Bank and West Coast are now receiving treated water from the Pouderoyen treatment plant. And residents in the project area are being urged by the Guyana Water Inc. (GWI) to prevent wastage of water.
Contracts totalling $1.2 billion have been awarded for the major water project at La Bonne Intention (LBI), East Coast Demerara. The project includes the construction of the water factory, replacing transmission lines and rehabilitation of the existing systems, GINA stated.
Baksh disclosed too that $600 million will be spent to upgrade the Eccles/ Friendship, East Bank Demerara water systems, adding that the contracts have been awarded and work is expected to commence within a fortnight.
The minister also highlighted that $350 million is being spent at Bartica in Region Seven (Cuyuni/ Mazaruni) to upgrade the water treatment plant and to install all pipelines. This project will be completed shortly.