- CEO says seeking to lease generators
Chief Executive Officer of Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) Karan Singh said yesterday that the utility was struggling to sustain adequate supply and in some instances, any supply, in various communities across the country, particularly in Region Five, owing to persistent power disruptions and the lack of a regular electricity supply.

The street protests over dry taps that are spilling over in communities in Berbice and Mahaicony are fully understood by GWI, Singh told reporters pointing out, that Region Five is currently on a virtual shut down. He said the company is at a stage where “our hands are in the air and we are crying out for help”.

Singh emphasized that GWI is not attacking the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) company, but is merely pointing out what has gone wrong in the last few weeks with its supply in certain areas, which is, that GPL has failed to supply a continuous source of specifically phased and balanced generation of electricity to power GWI’s operations across the country. In fact, he said, GWI was  worried about GPL’s ability to supply adequate electricity in general to its operations.

According to him, Prime Minister Samuels Hinds is aware of the situation, and so are officials at the power company. He said GPL had been invited to the press briefing yesterday, but no representative from the company turned up.

“The consistent and prolonged power outages are not only affecting out ability to supply water to residents, but the impact of the unstable electricity on our equipment is of paramount concern to GWI,” the water utility said in a statement yesterday.

Singh noted that constant exposure to unstable power has resulted in damage to equipment, adding that GWI was forced to replace equipment putting an additional strain on finances.

The images of persons taking to the streets and protesting are everywhere in the news, Singh said, adding that he hoped the crisis was resolved soon. However, he said, there is need for outside help and threw out an appeal for anyone in the business community who has generators to lease to make immediate contact with GWI. He noted though that generators only offer a temporary solution and create additional costs.
Faced with the protests and damage to its infrastructure owing to residents breaking mains, GWI has rushed to institute self-generation at a few strategic pumping locations in the Berbice area where residents are suffering. Back-up generators were installed at Rosignol and at Number 57 Village, while another was installed at Ithaca Pump Station after Guysuco and the Mahaica/Mahaicony/Abary Authority (MMA) intervened and made one available.

GWI plans to source two additional generators, which will be installed at Weldaad and Calcutta allowing residents in those areas to receive water during power outages. Singh stressed that the generators are only designed to operate for four hours.

The water company said in its statement that extra costs would be incurred for the mobilization of the generators; special switch gears, which will be needed at each of the identified locations. According to GWI, the switches will create an additional $250,000 financial burden for each area identified. Additionally, some $500,000 a month would be needed for the operation and maintenance of each of the self-generation sites.

Further, GWI commented on the damage its infrastructure has endured within the past few weeks. Singh said residents in the affected area are breaking mains and pumping from the service connection during power outages. According to him, this practice has got to end since it is resulting in additional expenses to the company.