Sewage flowing into Alberttown yards

Dear Editor,

On Monday, October 17, 2011 a report was made to GWI once again, about overflowing sewage in the Alberttown area. Once again a “Ref #” was given and the caller told that “within three working days,” etc. On the third working day a call was made to ensure that the job would be carried out, and we were told “yes, they are presently in the area.” We waited and waited to see if the flow would stop and go down.

However, after about an hour-and-a-half there were no improvements. When asked, we were told that the GWI truck did come but that they went away. When a call was made to the office again the woman who answered – forgetting what was said before – replied, “they won’t come so early, later in the day.” So I said, “but you said they were already in the area when I called earlier.”  When I told here that we understood that the truck went away again, she responded that she would have to let the supervisor know. Every time we call, there seems to be a different person answering the phone – Rose, Samantha, Michelle, and some other.

Every day since then, up to Tuesday, October 25, calls were made, and the same answer given every time  – they were in the area, she will have to let the supervisor know, they will see what can be done. Nothing so far has been done up to October 30.

However, it was made known to us by reliable sources, that the main sewerage chamber that is located on the corner of Fourth & Light Streets in a building used by a business enterprise, has been sealed up. Should this be? As far as I know, if an individual wants to build and a chamber will be enclosed in the building, they are supposed to have it relocated outside the building before any construction can begin. Please correct me if I am wrong.

Just a few weeks ago the other chambers that were accessible were emptied and the flow stopped, but not two weeks later the sewage was back in our yards. It is safe to assume that the blockage is in the third chamber since the others were cleaned.

At this point we are suffering once more with the sewage flowing in our downstairs area which we frequent on a daily basis. The toilet cannot be flushed regularly, the smell is unbearable, the conditions are unhygienic and the rains are now upon us.

We are now contemplating filling up a few buckets of the sewage to take to the GWI office, accompanied by the media.

Yours faithfully,
(Name and address provided)
Editor’s note
We are sending a copy of this letter to Mr Timothy Austin, PRO of Guyana Water Inc for any comment he might wish to make.