The long wait by some 250 Moblissa residents on the Soesdyke-Linden Highway for access to drinking water will soon be over as Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) will re-establish a community water supply system.
GWI CEO, Mr Shaik Baksh and a technical team on Tuesday, January 26, 2021, visited the sparsely populated community to assess the water situation. This follows a recent visit to the community by a Minister in the Ministry of Housing and Water, the Hon. Susan Rodrigues, when residents evicted their situation.
“We visited far down in Moblissa where there is an incomplete storage facility and a well. The residents are not benefiting from this because over the last three years there have been attempts to bring a supply of water to the people who were unsuccessful, ”explained Mr Baksh.
After assessing the situation, GWI will examine the productive capacity of the existing well within the next two weeks. If successful, a Photovoltaic system will be installed.
Also, a trestle was built in the community but will never be used, black water tanks will be part of the restoration. This facility will be a central location for residents to access drinking water, bringing much needed relief.
A resident, Thelca Neblett, who lives close to the existing well, has installed her own pipes to access water from which Mr Baksh has been praised.
Another resident, Tangamu Ngquondo said he was grateful for the visit from the GWI team and even assured that community members were willing to give their support in the form of self-help to ensure access to drinking water.
Residents in the community source water primarily from Moblissa Creek or by rainwater harvesting.
Another community intervention will be drilling a new well this year and installing a distribution network to provide water access to the Health Center, Primary School, and nearby residents.
Clinical assistant Debra Cornelius said they would be very grateful for the intervention as water is life and without it the health center cannot function effectively.
The CEO highlighted that the community is predominantly Agriculture based, so other interventions will have to be made but not necessarily by GWI. He referred in particular to an intervention to bring water from the creeks so that residents can access water for their cattle and farming.
Meanwhile, in the Bamia community, which also has a sparse population, the utility company has to do a further study to determine how the community will access drinking water.
Mr Baksh explained that drilling a well is a major investment and therefore the company will have to determine the functionality, provide the dispersed housing and small population in the community. [Extracted and Modified from DPI]