More than 15,000 families benefit from new Cummings Lodge well
Written by Chevon Singh
Monday, 17 October 2011 02:53
Source - Guyana Chronicle
Minister Irfaan Ali, assisted by residents of Cummings Lodge, conducts the ceremonial unveiling of the plaque at the new well station.
MORE than 15,000 families are set to benefit from the $101M Cummings Lodge well station commissioned Friday by Minister of Housing and Water, Irfaan Ali.
The facility, at Tenth Street, Cummings Lodge, was jointly funded by the Government of Guyana and the Basic Needs Trust Fund (BNTF) and will ensure improved service to residents living in A, B, C, D and E Fields, Sophia.
In his address, Minister Ali explained that the project plays a very important role in transforming the infrastructural landscape in the water sector.
“Five years ago, we launched an aggressive plan that served to widen coverage for persons having access to water, and to improve and upgrade the delivery of water, in terms of improved pressure and flow,” he said.
In order to accomplish this, a huge amount of money has been invested countrywide, particularly in Region 4 (Demerara/Mahaica), he added.
As testimony to this, Ali said, the Ministry of Housing and Water has expended over $3.6B in the water sector in Region 4, within the last five years.
“If you look at it as investment per household, you will see that for every single household in Region 4, the government of Guyana has invested more than $50,000 in the water sector. This has resulted in improved water services along the coast of Guyana from 71 per cent to 98 per cent, over the last five years”, Ali stated.
A section of the gathering at the commissioning ceremony
Continuing, the Housing and Water Minister congratulated the residents for their patience, noting that the commissioning ceremony is the fulfillment of a promise made to them almost one year ago.
In addition, he urged them to recognise that it will take some time for the system to be fully operational, as a lot of work still needs to be done to “flush out” the system, in an effort to ensure the provision of, safe, potable water.
He said, “There are a lot of difficulties; a lot of persons have tampered with the network in order to have access to water, this poses a difficulty; as water is released, the challenges are re-popping up; as a result we had to conduct repairs and realignment of the distribution network to make this well efficient. That is important to reduce leakage and wastage. Over the next two weeks, we will go through the testing phase to ensure the network is in a fully functional way.”
Ali noted too that, within the next three years, more than 1000 new customers will be connected to the system for the first time.
“This is the transformational nature, this is the improvement that projects like these will bring to communities,” he declared.
‘Thumbs up’ – One customer expresses his satisfaction after testing the water coming out of the Cummings Lodge well station.
The Cummings Lodge station has a depth of 234 metres and the capacity to produce 162 cubic metres of water per hour.
The project was awarded to Nabi Construction Incorporated, and was supervised by the Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI), and Design and Construction Services Limited (DCSL).
Meanwhile, Project Manager, BNTF, Michael Singh, explained that the entity is pleased to be associated with the project, which fulfills their mandate to reduce poverty through expansion and conservation of social and economic infrastructure.
“This is more proof or evidence that the water sector is going places. Kudos to the Minister of Housing and Water and GWI,” he said.
Written by Chevon Singh
Monday, 17 October 2011 02:53
Source - Guyana Chronicle
Minister Irfaan Ali, assisted by residents of Cummings Lodge, conducts the ceremonial unveiling of the plaque at the new well station.MORE than 15,000 families are set to benefit from the $101M Cummings Lodge well station commissioned Friday by Minister of Housing and Water, Irfaan Ali.
The facility, at Tenth Street, Cummings Lodge, was jointly funded by the Government of Guyana and the Basic Needs Trust Fund (BNTF) and will ensure improved service to residents living in A, B, C, D and E Fields, Sophia.
In his address, Minister Ali explained that the project plays a very important role in transforming the infrastructural landscape in the water sector.
“Five years ago, we launched an aggressive plan that served to widen coverage for persons having access to water, and to improve and upgrade the delivery of water, in terms of improved pressure and flow,” he said.
In order to accomplish this, a huge amount of money has been invested countrywide, particularly in Region 4 (Demerara/Mahaica), he added.
As testimony to this, Ali said, the Ministry of Housing and Water has expended over $3.6B in the water sector in Region 4, within the last five years.
“If you look at it as investment per household, you will see that for every single household in Region 4, the government of Guyana has invested more than $50,000 in the water sector. This has resulted in improved water services along the coast of Guyana from 71 per cent to 98 per cent, over the last five years”, Ali stated.
A section of the gathering at the commissioning ceremonyContinuing, the Housing and Water Minister congratulated the residents for their patience, noting that the commissioning ceremony is the fulfillment of a promise made to them almost one year ago.
In addition, he urged them to recognise that it will take some time for the system to be fully operational, as a lot of work still needs to be done to “flush out” the system, in an effort to ensure the provision of, safe, potable water.
He said, “There are a lot of difficulties; a lot of persons have tampered with the network in order to have access to water, this poses a difficulty; as water is released, the challenges are re-popping up; as a result we had to conduct repairs and realignment of the distribution network to make this well efficient. That is important to reduce leakage and wastage. Over the next two weeks, we will go through the testing phase to ensure the network is in a fully functional way.”
Ali noted too that, within the next three years, more than 1000 new customers will be connected to the system for the first time.
“This is the transformational nature, this is the improvement that projects like these will bring to communities,” he declared.
‘Thumbs up’ – One customer expresses his satisfaction after testing the water coming out of the Cummings Lodge well station.The Cummings Lodge station has a depth of 234 metres and the capacity to produce 162 cubic metres of water per hour.
The project was awarded to Nabi Construction Incorporated, and was supervised by the Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI), and Design and Construction Services Limited (DCSL).
Meanwhile, Project Manager, BNTF, Michael Singh, explained that the entity is pleased to be associated with the project, which fulfills their mandate to reduce poverty through expansion and conservation of social and economic infrastructure.
“This is more proof or evidence that the water sector is going places. Kudos to the Minister of Housing and Water and GWI,” he said.