Guyana’s Housing and Water Minister, Collin Croal has reiterated the government’s commitment to achieving the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goal Number Six: “water and sanitation for all by 2030”.
During his presentation to commemorate World Water Day today, the Minister noted that more than $21.5B have been committed through budgetary allocations for the period 2020 to 2022 for water and sanitation.
Minister Croal reminded of the importance of water in daily life, and how disruptive the lack of this resource can have on the population.
“We know that water, sanitation, and hygiene have the potential to partially prevent the global disease burden and deaths. We also know that without easily accessible safe water, families and communities can face poverty for generations, children will drop out of school, parents will struggle to make a living and development will be impeded,” he said.
He added that the government’s massive expenditure on increasing access to water has resulted in more than 11,000 citizens now having access to this precious resource for the very first time. He reported that new wells have been drilled in Wakenaam, Providence, Lusignan, Diamond, Parika Backdam and several parts of the Hinterland. Old transmission mains were also replaced at Vlissengen Road, Newtown Kitty, Cemetery Road and Bartica.
In its commitment to SDG6, Minister Croal said that his government has set clear objectives such as increasing access to potable water from 96% to 100% by 2025, increasing treated water coverage from 52% to 90% on the Coast and increasing access to potable water supply from 60% to 100% for hinterland and riverain communities by 2024.
The theme for World Water Day 2022 is “Groundwater, making the invisible visible”.
