Ruimveldt residents without water for six weeks

By Bibi Khatoon

Residents of Yarrow Dam, Ruimveldt, Georgetown have been without water for some six weeks they have expressed their frustration with the Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) after calls for relief have gone unanswered.

“Guyana a land of many waters and this is the situation we going through,” Natasha Williams told News Room as she displayed a bowl which is being used to get a few drops of water.

Another resident, Angela Hunte told the News Room that a resident has been going to Riverview to full water at a charge of $100 per bucket and up to $6,000 per barrel.

“We got children on this dam, we got children going to school. We got to get 12 O’ clock, 1 O’ clock, 2 O’ clock, just to get three or four buckets of water. You can’t get sleep, and it punishing. The other day we have to buy a barrel water for $6,000. I living on this dam for 41 years…we call them, we complain, nobody ain’t coming to rectify it,” Hunte vented to News Room.

There are some persons who visit the nearby Ruimveldt police station for water but are constantly insulted by the officers.

“You got to fetch water from the station and when the police them ready, they insult you (saying) ‘like you own the station yard’. You can’t do nothing without water,” Gloria Lewis pointed out.

Another woman said she and her children are now sick after she would have paid someone for water, not realizing that the water was contaminated.

Another resident, Annuradha Lalloo said she and her two daughters ended up at the Woodlands Hospital after bathing with the water, and the children are now unable to attend school.

The residents related that several calls were made to the GWI but no one attempted to fix the problem. They also claimed that when a resident visited the office of GWI, he was told that he is the only person having the issue, implying that one person is not enough to fix the problem.

News Room contacted GWI’s Public Relations Officer, Leanna Bradshaw, who explained that a contractor conducted works in the area and damaged one of the company’s mainline. However, she said it was only recently that they learnt of the issue and is working to locate the area of the breakage so that it can be fixed.