…after GWI crackdown on Grassfield squatters
Residents of Foulis are without water after the main in their area was shut off following tampering by Grassfield squatting area residents.
Stabroek News visited the area yesterday with a team from Guyana Water Inc (GWI).
Public relations officer Rawle Aaron said that illegal standpipes were removed from squatters’ yards on Tuesday and the squatters proceeded to loosen the screws on the main that supplies water to Foulis, causing the main to be turned off and no water being channelled to Foulis.
Aaron said that in 2006 Grassfield squatting area was given standpipes on the road, even though the area is not regularized and residents would not have had to pay for this service. He explained that residents ran pipes into their yards and this led to a lower pressure for residents in the nearby housing scheme who are legal customers of the water company. GWI moved into the area and removed the pipes on Monday and by Wednesday residents had tampered with the main causing water to be wasted. GWI workers closed off the main resulting in other areas not getting water and the residents therefore lodged complaints with GWI.
Aaron said that GWI will promptly repair the main and the water will be turned back on. However the water company is appealing to residents of the squatting area to utilize the standpipes and not to interfere with the system.
- In photo water spewing from the tampered main at Foulis.
Meanwhile Stabroek News spoke to some of the residents from the squatting area who said that they are willing to pay for water.
One resident, Liloutie, said: “I willing to pay for a bore if I get it,” while Champa, another resident of the squatting area, said that she has a handicapped son who she cannot leave alone at home to go to fetch water from the standpipe which is a little distance away from her home.
However a GWI engineer explained that it is difficult to give water to squatting areas because they are not regularized. When the Lands and Surveys Department issues a plan for the area, it may not be in synch with where pipelines were laid by GWI so the lines would have to be removed then.
GWI will be revisiting the area tomorrow to hold meetings with the residents to see how best everyone’s problems can be solved.
Aaron also spoke about the problems facing Cotton Tree residents as reported in yesterday’s Stabroek News saying that the trouble results from the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) company which is not providing enough power to push the water company’s pumps. He said that in an effort to deal with this difficulty, he has submitted a list of the areas where GWI’s pump stations are located so that GPL could take them into consideration and ensure that those areas do not suffer from frequent blackouts.
Aaron also addressed the possibility of “self-generating” electricity, but said that it would involve a lot of resources, human and otherwise. He said that the resolution lies in GPL providing enough power to push the generators.
