As Guyana joined with the rest of the world today to observe World Water Day under the theme “Leaving no one behind,” it was proclaimed that approximately 75,000 Guyanese gained access to potable water from 2015 to date.
This is according to Managing Director of Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI), Dr. Richard Van West-Charles, as he spoke at a symposium hosted by the company at the Egbert Benjamin Conference Hall in Linden, Region 10. He was at the time addressing an audience of regional officials, representatives of international organisations, GWI staff, students and teachers.
The Managing Director also strongly believes that GWI will attain Sustainable Development goal number 6, which speaks to “Clean Water for all” by 2025, five years early. This, he explained, will be made possible with the commitment of GWI’s staff and policy guidance from Government. Even as he spoke with confidence of future achievements, Dr. Van West-Charles also took the opportunity to highlight that the utility has since 2016 immensely improved its water quality testing and analysis.
The capacity building of its staff and the establishment of a number of mini laboratories across the country were noted as the factors responsible for these improvements. GWI has also increased the inventory of transmission and distribution mains by more than 10 percent.
Meanwhile, Dr. Van West-Charles said that the theme of World Water Day 2019 calls on all stakeholders to examine why persons are left behind and places emphasis on how access to water, sanitation and sustainable water management can be the drivers for change. According to him, access to knowledge, coupled with the attainment of understanding is needed in this regard.
This year’s theme draws focus on the importance of freshwater and its sustainable management. In Guyana, freshwater sources are in the form of Watersheds, with the Dakoura Creek Watershed in Linden being the most researched and documented watershed in Guyana. This Watershed is the source of water for some 10,000 residents of Linden.
The Managing Director therefore took the opportunity to stress that this therefore means that protecting and safeguarding the watershed is critical. Additionally, he called on citizens of Linden to set the tone for the organisational policy and programmatic focus of watershed management.
