Residents of the Dazzell Housing Scheme could receive potable water in another year’s time following President Bharrat Jagdeo’s on-the-spot reduction of the initial three years earmarked for the community to receive a supply, a release from the Government Information Agency (GINA) said on Saturday.
Exactly two weeks after Stabroek News published an article detailing the community’s water woes, Jagdeo and his Housing Minister Irfaan Ali visited the community on Saturday. Some residents had told Stabroek News that they had been without potable water for the last eleven years and have had to depend on the rain or a truck that visits daily with water. It was pointed out however, that persons who work are seldom at home to get water from the truck.
When contacted, Public Relations Officer of the Guyana Water Inc (GWI) Timothy Austin had told Stabroek News that plans were on stream to give the community water.
“We have plans to install a distribution system in the Dazzell area and they would get water from the Enmore well,” Austin said.
He had said that GWI is doing site visits at present and laying the groundwork but he could not give a time frame as to when running water would be a reality.
According to the release President Jagdeo’s assurance to the residents came during Ali’s distribution of 181 land titles to residents of the community which has about 6000 households. The release said that the housing ministry has implemented a project worth
$60M to establish a water distribution network in the village which Minister Ali had said would have taken three years to be completed.
“Given the urgency for water in the community and anxiety among the residents however, President Jagdeo took the decision to prioritise the completion of the water distribution network which will see sustainable water supply to the scheme next year,” the GINA release said.
The release said the community is also one of the housing schemes benefitting from government’s massive roads project and at present 10 of the 22 streets in the community have been completed.
