$30M pump to expand water services to Five Miles, Bartica

Minister of Housing and Water, Collin Croal has announced that a $30 million water booster pump system will be procured to expand water distribution to the Five Miles Housing Scheme in Bartica, Region Seven.

The system would be installed at Four Miles and will directly benefit 873 households within the Bartica township.

Minister Croal was at the time addressing residents at the Four Miles Health Centre during an outreach on Thursday. He had initially visited the community in October and committed to expanding the water distribution system in Bartica.

However, there were some challenges with pumping the water from the Bartica Water Treatment Plant to Five Miles. The community is located on a hill with an 83-metre elevation. The water treatment plant can only pump water to an elevation of 45 feet, which covers up to Four Miles.

“So that is quite high and so, the remedy therefore is that a boosted pump is required to be placed here so that allows the water to flow to that booster and then pump it over to Five Miles,” Minister Croal explained.

He said within another week, the Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) will tender for the water pump. The pump would be sourced overseas, so the procurement and installation would take up to three months.

“It is costing us an additional $30 million, but your Government is committed that we will expand the water network and so the monies will be made available to do that. What we are asking for is another three months to get it done.”

Minister Croal also visited the Bartica Water Treatment Plant to have a first-hand look at the distribution system.

The treatment plant sources water from the Essequibo River, which is then treated and distributed to residents in the town. Recently, a parallel distribution line was installed to pump additional water to the plant. This should see an increase in water supply from 210 cubic metres to 320 cubic metres in two weeks. The plant would also be able to supply water all day.

Meanwhile, in the area of Housing, Minister Croal said a Housing Officer would be stationed in Bartica for the first time. This will ease the burden of residents having to travel to Vreed-en-Hoop, Region Three to address their housing matters.

The outreach forms part of the Ministry’s weekly public outreach programme to engage residents at the community level on matters relating to housing and water.  [Extracted and modified by the Department of Public Information].