Gy$1.2 billion invested to transform Sophia

Government in the past eight years has invested some Gy$ 1.2 billion in Sophia, transforming the village from a shanty town to a more habitable environment, and on the road to further development.

In 2004, the Central Housing and Planning Authority had undertaken five major projects to the tune of Gy$566.7 million. The projects entailed the construction of roads, drains and structures in Farmer’s Field, Plum Park, Block A, Block B, and Block C Sophia.

These investments benefitted in excess of 2960 households and some 9129 persons in total.

The year 2005 saw Section D Sophia and Block F Sophia being upgraded with roads, drains and structures to the tune of some Gy$ 51.2 million. This investment serviced more than 510 households, and improving the lives of some 2091 persons.

In addition to the above investments, in 2010, the Housing and Water Ministry invested some Gy$ 214 million for the construction of roads, drains and structures in Section D Sophia and Area R Sophia. This additional investment saw services being provided to more than 730 households, benefiting some 2990 persons.

These investments, which totalled more than Gy$832 million in the Sophia areas under the Central Housing and Planning Authority, have benefitted more than 4200 households and some 14,210 persons.

This means that the government would have invested more than Gy$198,095 for every household in the above areas in Sophia. Taken further, it means that the government would have invested more than Gy$ 58,550 for every individual living in these areas.

In the next two weeks, the ministry will be putting out a tender for a contract to upgrade the main access road in Block F Sophia, which will be upgraded to asphalted concrete. The project is estimated to cost some Gy$ 20 million.

Sophia has 11 squatting areas and Under the Settlements Regularisation & Upgrading Department of the Central housing and Planning Authority, 10 of which are regularised.

There are approximately 100 households in Block S Sophia. This area was not regularised because it is very low and floods easily.

Moreover, the cost of the infrastructural development would be very high, according to engineers who visited the site. Further, if a decision is made to regularise the area, approximately 40 persons would have to be relocated in order to create access. Some residents have indicated their willingness to be relocated.

The Housing and Water Ministry under the Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) has invested more than Gy$400 million in capital investments to boost access to water in Sophia. The major interventions within the project area comprise the construction of a new state-of-the-art iron removal water treatment plant at Sophia; the construction of a new water well at Cummings Lodge and service connection upgrades and metering in Sophia (Farmers Field, Plum Park and Blocks A-D).

These initiatives are intended to improve the quality and level of services offered to residents of the village. To date, pipe laying, distribution upgrade and service connection installation is 60 per cent complete, and full completion is expected to be in June this year. The new Sophia Water Treatment Plant which was commissioned in 2011 is a state-of-the-art facility, which comprises a modern energy efficient gravity type water treatment technology.

This plant utilises a sodium hypochlorite generation system which aids in the chlorine purification process. This new facility successfully serves the population in and around A and B fields Sophia, Bel Air and Prashad Nagar.

The new water well in Cummings Lodge which was commissioned in October 2011 effectively serves residents in E to C fields Sophia, while the on-going service connection upgrades and metering programme is geared to strengthen and consolidate existing service connections, effectively reducing non-revenue water while boosting service levels.

The total intervention within Sophia by the GWI equates to a per capita investment of Gy$ 14,000. Cumulatively, the Central Housing and Planning Authority and the GWI, which together make up the Housing and Water Ministry, have invested more than Gy$ 1.2 billion to transform the once neglected village.