Minister of Housing and Water Irfaan Ali said efforts will be made to reactivate the old well at Meten-Meer-Zorg to allow residents to access potable water while works are ongoing at a water treatment plant in the area.

A Government Information Agency (GINA) press release said the well at Zeelugt has been overworked as a result of the extension of the Guyana Water Incorporated’s service to the new housing area in Tuschen.

However, “Works are ongoing at Vergenoegen to have the water treatment plant completed and a new well in Tuschen, Ali said. He said the wells have been earmarked for development this year and resources have already been budgeted.

GINA said the ministry received a budgetary allocation of $5.4B. From this sum $3.8B will be used to construct several water treatment plants to boost coverage and quality of water supplied at Lima, Essequibo, Vergenoegen, East Bank Essequibo, and Cotton Tree, Berbice.

The treatment facilities are being built under the Water Sector Consolidation Project funded by a grant from the World Bank at a cost of US$11.3M with government providing US$1.1M of the funding. These plants will provide treated water to over 48,000 people.

In addition to these, two similar facilities are currently being constructed at Sophia and Central Ruimveldt which will benefit over 41,000 residents. The two plants have the capacity to produce up to 12 million litres of purified water per day.