– GWI officials say project is ahead of scheduled time
Orin Brown
The US$10 million Georgetown Sanitation Improvement Programme (GSIP) is moving apace, Guyana Water Inc (GWI) Project Manager Orin Brown disclosed during an exclusive interview with Guyana Times International.
It is anticipated that the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the government of Guyana-funded project will be completed long ahead of its May 2014 deadline.
The project is approximately 80 percent completed. In accordance with the project design, 12 pump stations should have been installed by the end of 2013; however, the GSIP team successfully installed all 24 pump stations in December.
“We have rehabilitated them to a modern standard, each being fitted with two need submersible pumps, one will be on duty and the other on standby in the event of failure,” Brown explained.
Delivery mains
Additionally, under this component, more than four kilometres of the 5.5 kilometres of delivery mains have been installed, in the vicinities of Forshaw and Peter Rose streets; Light and Fifth streets; Hadfield and Smyth streets and Quamina, Camp and Waterloo Streets.
Currently, the contractors are in the process of installing six kilometres of force mains (hydraulic/ring mains) which are considered to be the arteries of the sewage system. According to Brown, this aspect is 60 percent complete.
“We are on schedule and within the budget and we are confident that the project will be completed successfully,” he posited.
It is anticipated that this first component of the GSIP project, which is designed to modernise the sewage network will benefit approximately 50, 000 persons.
However, the repair of roads which were tampered with to facilitate the first component of the project is not yet completed.
Brown told this publication that consultants are assessing the situation, adding that the inclement weather is contributing to the delays. He said GWI regrets any inconvenience caused.
Component two focuses on strengthening GWI’s operation. As a result, an Asset Management Strategy is being formulated to effectively manage the upgraded network.
This component includes the staging of seminars for hotels and restaurant owners. It was explained that these entities depend heavily on the sewage network, like all other entities, but create grease straps by pumping fats into the sewage networks, which is severely affecting the network.
School workshops
Workshops for primary and secondary schools within the city will also be conducted, with major attention given to proper sanitation and hygiene. Brown said the third component of the project includes an energy efficiency pilot study.
It was explained that inefficient electro-mechanical equipment will be removed from 12 pumping stations and replaced with energy-efficient equipment.
Through a Mexican consultant, GWI is expected to experience a significant drop in the amount of energy consumed by the listed pumping stations.
Meanwhile, the fourth component is being executed with assistance from the Health Ministry. During this aspect of the programme, there will be mass administration of DEC tablets for the next five years to reduce the prevalence of filaria in the region. Currently, health workers are distributing DEC tablets in Georgetown and on the East Coast and East Bank of Demerara. This is the second of five cycles of distribution.
