Georgetown: AS the date for submission of reports in regard to achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) nears, Guyana is set to achieve its target for the provision of clean and safe water, even as the issue of sanitation still poses a threat.
Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation’s (GPHC’s) Chief Medical Office (CMO) Dr. Shamdeo Persaud highlighted that the Ministry of Health is working collaboratively with the Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) and the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO), along with the various Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDCs) and municipalities, to tackle the water aspect.
“The responsibility is shared with the local sanitary authority, in collaboration with PAHO and GWI, as we also formulated water safety plans across various regions across Guyana,” he said.
So far, the CMO declared, water safety plans have been implemented in Regions 9 (Upper Takutu/Upper Essequibo) and 10 (Upper Demerara/Upper Berbice), while plans are being organised for some other regions as well.
“The plan includes monitoring the source or sources of water; (determining) whether it is surface water or well (water); (mapping out) the distribution of water; and also not to forget educating the public on the safe use of water; while GWI also emphasizes wastage, because water is an expensive commodity,” the CMO said.
Asked about the progress in regard to achieving the MDG, Dr. Shamdeo announced: “We are putting together the finishing touches to the mix survey, which we conducted together with the Bureau of Statistics on funds provided by the United Nations Children Relief Fund (UNICEF); a household survey of about 6000 households, where we collected information on water availability and such.”
The CMO said the last national water data was collected in the 2009 Democratic Health Survey (DHS), wherein it was discovered that Guyana was just about meeting the targets. Therefore, he said, the country is on the right path to achieving this MDG.
Meanwhile, as one goal is about to be achieved, another is proving to be a little more complicated for the various authorities. According to CMO Persaud, ‘sanitation’ is divided into two areas — solid waste management and human waste management.
He noted that although the authorities are faced with these difficulties, they’ve still been working on various projects, such as standardizing the new designs for septic tanks — the most common method of safe disposal of human waste.
“So far, the new design is set to eliminate the soak-away part of it, so it reduces mosquito breeding, as the tanks are completely sealed. We also had discussion with PAHO, a few years back, pertaining to the establishment of standards for pit latrines in areas that don’t have septic tanks,” he said.
Another aspect of Human Waste Management is the sewage system, and Dr. Shamdeo said the authorities are currently working along with GWI to improve the sewage system in Georgetown, but this is expected to take some time.
As regards Solid Waste Management, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has a bigger role to perform, with the anti-litter laws which deal with, among other things, human behaviour, “while we have also, at the MoH and the Central Board of Health, been working with NDCs to identify and approve sanitary landfills in areas which we can’t properly manage the safe disposal,” he said.
He alluded to the fact that “some of the approvals for sanitary landfills to be developed across the region have been identified through the Clean-Up My Country campaign.
“So we have started to remove the waste from around those areas, but there is still a lot more work to be done, and the MoH and CBH (have promised) to continue monitoring these areas,” he disclosed.
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