Ituni : In a matter of months residents of Ituni are likely to benefit from safe, potable water. At least this is according to Public Relations Officer of the Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI), Timothy Austin, during an invited comment today. Austin revealed that a new well which was drilled in 2011 has since been completed and a new project will commence as early as June 2012 to extract safe, potable water from the new well. This, according to him “will alleviate most of the water supply challenges affecting the area.”
Residents of Ituni, a few weeks ago, had raised their concern about the water situation even as they picketed the lawns of the Ministry of Education in the quest to have a secondary education department be introduced in the area. The picketing exercise was orchestrated by the Ituni Parent/Teacher Association.
According to one of the vocal picketers, Pastor Eon McDonald, the problems at Ituni extend to the water situation, which he believes is capable of transmitting “all sorts of diseases. It has been decades we have been getting brown water… We have got wrigglers in our water and that is what we have to consume…this is the poor service we are getting.”
However, Austin revealed today that GWI is currently mobilizing manpower and equipment to have the water project completed in the swiftest manner possible to address the water woes of the residents.
GWI’s Hinterland Manager, Akram Hussain, recently revealed that the water company was in 2011 able to drill a well in the Ituni community as part of the first phase to rectify all the issues experience with sourcing water from a creek within the community. “The well drilling exercise has been quite successful,” Hussein revealed, even as he pointed out that “arrangements are in place to interconnect the well with the network by the middle of 2012.”
The Hinterland Manager in addition to pointing to mid-year being targeted as the completion date for the project had also anticipated that there were no significant obstacles. “We are presently installing relay structures to make the interconnectivity with the network possible,” he disclosed. He further explained that under GWI’s Hinterland Programme for 2012 there is provision for the installation of two mini treatment units within the community of Ituni which would provide residents with significantly improved water supply.
Hussain stated too that all efforts are being made to expedite the project in an effort to alleviate the problems experienced by residents but urged all parties to be patient since the technical components require meticulous installation to avoid any delays.
As part of the initial process a GWI Team, including members of the Scientific Services Department, had conducted a full investigation into the concerns voiced by residents regarding the use of a nearby creek as a source of water.
