Stabroek News

US$3.5M Shelter Belt rehab expected to improve city’s water quality

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Guyana Water Incorporat­ed (GWI) yesterday signed an agreement with a Mexican company for the rehabilita­tion of the Shelter Belt, which is expected to significan­tly improve the quality of water supplied to residents of Georgetown.

The US$3.5 million project is part of GWI’s Water Supply and Sanitation Infrastruc­ture Improvemen­t Programme and is funded by a grant from the European Union and a loan from the InterAmeri­can Developmen­t Bank.

Through a tendering process, Mexican company Hi-Pro Ecologicos S.A de C.V was awarded the contract for the project, which is expected to be completed within 18 months.

Speaking at the signing of the agreement yesterday at GWI’s headquarte­rs in Georgetown, Managing Director Dr. Richard Van West-Charles called it an important milestone in GWI’s thrust towards improving the water supply around the country and in the capital city of Georgetown, where there has been a “significan­t slippage” in the water quality.

“This plant really requires, because of the expansion of the city, rehabilita­tion until we can do a complete overhaul. We recognised that there was significan­t slippage in terms of the water quality of water coming from Shelter Belt,” he noted.

Van West-Charles said when he took the helm of GWI in 2015, one of the most important strategic developmen­ts he focused on was improving the water quality across the country, especially in Georgetown.

He noted that they have been working on aligning their standards with those of the World Health Organisati­on (WHO). However, he noted, that this does not mean that they do not have gaps and one of the areas they have to address is the Shelter Belt in order to make it more efficient and cost effective in the long run.

“Most people will know that Shelter Belt is a major landmark in our history. It had its birth way back in 1929. We started to take only surface water to serve the city of Georgetown. The first set of plans for the rehabilita­tion of Shelter Belt occurred between 1935 and 1939 and then the World War commenced and delayed the implementa­tion and not until the early 1950s the rehabilita­tion started,” Van WestCharle­s explained.

He stated that since then they have done a lot of things to improve the water supply level and have expanded the system but much rehabilita­tion work has not been done.

The rehabilita­tion project will see the overhaulin­g of the chemical mixing system as well as rehabilita­tion of the insulation and valves for better treatment. The filter system, which Van West-Charles said is one of the systems that has been neglected for a very long time, will also be rehabilita­ted.

While rehabilita­tion works were done in 2016, Van West-Charles noted that “we can do better and therefore this project will assist us.”

“Presently, and we didn’t wait for the project, water is being monitored on an hourly basis in Georgetown 24/7 and that is why we can boast about the quality of the water emanating from the plant. As we say, water is life but it requires a sound infrastruc­ture and the lines and distributi­on network we have to be looking at,” he noted, while emphasisin­g that there are major works that have to be done on the distributi­on network in the city.

“We have to get to a point where the black tanks that dot the landscape will be reduced significan­tly and at the same time ensure citizens have got the requisite informatio­n to maintain black tanks and to help us maintain infrastruc­ture so that we can produce the highest quality of water,” Van WestCharle­s added.

Chairperso­n of the GWI’s Board of Directors Patricia Chase-Green also made brief remarks on the importance of upgrading and rehabilita­ting Shelter Belt.

In brief remarks, Luis Fabela, representa­tive of the Mexican firm, said the project is a big opportunit­y to meet the challenge of improving the quality of water for GWI’s consumers. He said that the company has been doing business on the internatio­nal market for over 20 years and will use its experience to ensure that it gets the work done in time.

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 ??  ?? Managing Director of the Guyana Water Incorporat­ed Dr. Richard Van WestCharle­s (at centre) collecting the signed agreement from representa­tive of HiPro Ecologicos S.A de C.V Luis Fabela (second, from right) along with Chairperso­n of the Board of...
Managing Director of the Guyana Water Incorporat­ed Dr. Richard Van WestCharle­s (at centre) collecting the signed agreement from representa­tive of HiPro Ecologicos S.A de C.V Luis Fabela (second, from right) along with Chairperso­n of the Board of...

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