Minister of Housing and Water, Mr. Shaik Baksh said a consultancy firm will be contracted to examine the entire design layout of the Linden water system and make recommendations on what should be done to ensure that Lindeners receive an adequate supply of potable water.

While on a visit to the region Thursday, Baksh met residents and regional officials and discussed the water situation in some areas that are affected.

He also inspected the water treatment plant and storage facility at Wisroc.

He was accompanied by Mr. Peter Styles, Operations Director of Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) and other officials.

He explained that GWI inherited a dilapidated water system when it took over the Linden water supply from Linden Mining Enterprise in October 2001.

It was noted that the entire water infrastructure was at the point of collapse.

GWI spent millions of dollars last year to upgrade the treatment plants and transmission systems.

Baksh said more than $50M was spent to upgrade the treatment plants and transmission system.

"In 2003, we plan to accelerate the investments in infrastructure for the water sector in Linden.

"One million Euros, which is equivalent to about G$190M, will be spent to further upgrade the system. We have some investment funds and the Government will also contribute to accelerate the programme for water infrastructure in Linden," he said.

The minister reported that a project document was submitted to the European Union (EU) for approval and said that a large sum of the money would be spent on upgrading the five water treatment plants in Linden.

Surface water from the Demerara River and nearby creeks is treated and supplied to residents.

Baksh pointed out that there is only one well in Linden at Amelia's Ward.

"We also want to look at the overhead storage and to upgrade sections of the distribution network. We are hoping that by the end of the year we can bring much relief to those areas that are now getting a poor supply of water."

He explained that new booster pumps and other spare parts would be immediately procured for the treatment plants to prevent any further poor supply of water.