The Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) was up to yesterday still awaiting action by the Guyana Power and Light Incorporated (GPL) to resolve voltage fluctuations that have disrupted the supply of water in Region Six.
GWI’s Region Six Manager Randolph Leitch explained yesterday that on Friday evening all of the company’s pump stations in the region were down due to the fluctuations. He explained that while they would have been up and running to distribute water yesterday, it was likely that they would shut down at around 3 pm, which is a peak time. According to him, they have noticed that during off peak hours, the voltage is high while during peak hours the system shuts down.
Leitch said as a result of both low and high voltage in the region, residents between the Fyrish, Corentyne and Adventure, Corentyne areas will have to continue to endure a shortage of water. He added that both the GWI Port Mourant and New Amsterdam treatment plants are also still affected by the voltage fluctuation and residents in those area are also likely to be affected.
Leitch said both treatment plants are being operated irregularly on generators. “Due to the power problem for the week, we burn about four motors and if the power problem continues like that we would continue to burn more motors,” he explained.
He estimated that the cost for a large motor is between $3 million and $4 million, while the small motors are estimated around $2.5 million to $3 million.
Meanwhile, Leitch further related that although GPL had given some assurance that the issue would be remedied by last Wednesday, it had not managed to do so. “Up to now, they [are] still having some problems,” he said.
Asa result, he said that as of yesterday he could not give an exact time as to when the issue would be resolved. However, he added that while it is awaiting word from GPL, GWI is trying its utmost to assist however it can.
GWI’s Executive Director of Operations Dwayne Shako told a press conference at the start of the month in Berbice that GPL informed him that it was having generation problems at the Canefield, East Canje, Berbice station. As a result, he said, it is presently “pushing power from Skeldon so the stations that are affected are the stations that are now on the lower end of the system which are the systems in the Canje area and the lower Corentyne. The stations on the upper Corentyne, which are closer to Skeldon, they are not affected because they are closer now to the generation site.”
