Shortage of fire hydrants worries New Amsterdamers
By Daniel DaCosta
Stabroek News
November 17, 2002
Over recent months fires in and around New Amsterdam, including two major ones, have sparked fears among many about the possibility of a catastrophe in the township because of scarce and inadequate water sources. The two major fires, one along Main road and another at the senior staff compound at Guysuco's Rose Hall Estate, saw the owners and occupants losing millions of dollars.
In New Amsterdam water supply became a major problem as firefighters were forced to access water some 200 metres away from the Republic road canal as they battled for hours to contain the conflagration. In the end they succeeded in containing the fire with the help of a number of civilians.
Yet the thousands who witnessed the fire at A Ally and Sons General Store on the morning of June 26 last knew what a catastrophe it would have been if water could not have been accessed from the Republic road canal.
The only other source of water in the township of some 30,000 odd inhabitants is the Berbice river, which borders the town to the west. The availability and volume of water on a timely basis from the Guyana Water Inc's Stanleytown plant also created some problems apart from leaking fire hoses that Wednesday morning.
The Guyana Water Inc has installed some 47 hydrants along the main thoroughfares including Main road, Strand and Republic road. However no hydrants have been installed in the eastern section of the town which includes several housing schemes.
In most of the schemes hydrants had been installed several years ago but all have since become inoperative. According to Head of the Commercial Services and Customer Relations Department at Guyana Water Inc Gladstone Faucett, the cost to install one hydrant is US$1,600. Alluding to the high cost of installing hydrants, Faucett said "where fire-fighting is concerned we tend to look to the canals to supplement firefighters' activities."
He however noted that at least 50 per cent of the hydrants installed to date have been vandalized and called on the community to take care of the outlets.
When told about the absence of hydrants in some eight housing areas with thousands of buildings, Faucett said "our programme is to put in more hydrants as long as the money is available. We will on a gradual basis install hydrants in those areas presently, but there is a heavy cost attached to such an exercise."
Apart from the eight housing schemes, the town's suburbs including the Mount Sinai housing area, Smythfield and Glasgow are also without hydrants and any reliable source of water supply. In the dry season the problem becomes acute since most of the canals and trenches dry up. Apart from this no excavation of trenches in these areas has been executed over recent years leaving most silted-up. The outbreak of a fire in these areas is too frightening to contemplate for those exposed to such a possibility. A source attached to the Fire Service told Stabroek News that indeed there is an inadequacy of hydrants in the town particularly in the eastern section. Noting that the Fire Service always seeks alternative sources of water for fire-fighting purposes, the source called on the Guyana Water Inc to be more civic-minded.
Faucett had also raised the question of the cost attached to supplying a large volume of treated water in the event of a fire and asked who was going to pay for the water.
In response, the firefighter argued that the utility should explore all possible avenues of not only acquiring funding to install hydrants but also to cover the cost of supplying water in the event of a fire.
He also expressed the view that in future the utility should involve the service more when decisions were to be made in relation to the installation of hydrants regarding their location and the fittings to be used.
Stabroek News understands that the Fire Service has experienced difficulties with the fittings used by the utility on the hydrants which have not been compatible with the service's hoses. This newspaper also understands that more funds are not likely to be made available under the New Amsterdam Water Supply Project for the installation of additional hydrants.
