Fifty-seven servicemen and women from Region 9 were on Friday awarded employment contracts by the Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) under which they would receive a fixed salary instead of a stipend to maintain the water supply systems in their villages.
A release yesterday from GWI said the men and women, who were selected by their respective Village Councils, were at the time attending a training workshop on water supply systems maintenance, hosted by the utility.
With the upgrading of many water systems in the region, GWI said that the service staff were required to be more thorough with their maintenance routines such as catering to the wells, photovoltaic systems and distribution networks. As a result, GWI said it saw the need to further train the service staff and offer them contracts.
Managing Director of GWI, Dr. Richard Van West-Charles said there has been an exponential rise in works from 2015 to date in water. According to the release, he said that in the Hinterland in 2019 alone, 22 wells were drilled, relieving the effects experienced during the dry season.
“GWI reviewed the arrangement for the servicemen and realized that more needed to be done to ensure successful outcomes. You will now be paid a monthly salary and be added to GWI’s payroll”, the Managing Director said.
The servicemen and women are also being taught to take water samples and the results of the tests will be sent to the Public Utilities Commission.
Executive Director of Hinterland Services, Ramchand Jailal noted that it is the company’s aim is to have systems that can provide easy access to potable water all year long.
During the workshop, the employment contracts were handed over by Executive Director of Human Resources Management and Development, Elvis Jordan. GWI also invited representatives of the National Insurance Scheme, the Guyana Revenue Authority and the Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry to assist the staff with applying for the requisite documents needed to become employees.
