Inaugural Office of the President Direct saw over 2200 Berbicians benefitting

– area earmarked for treatment plant to benefit 17,000 Berbicians

Ten (10) households occupying a government reserve at Bath, Region Five will soon be relocated to developed housing schemes through the Housing and Water Ministry– Central Housing and Planning Authority (CHPA). It was revealed that the relocation will pave the way for a new water treatment plant, which will benefit approximately 17,000 residents in the region from Number Seven Village to Kingelly.

Junior Housing and Water Minister, Susan Rodrigues on Friday afternoon, engaged the informal settlers on the relocation process, as part of a follow-up to a meeting last year. The minister was accompanied by Member of Parliament, Mr. Faizal Jaffarally; Regional Chairman, Mr. Vickchand Ramphal; and officials from the CHPA and the Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI).  

It was disclosed that the families were assured by minister Rodrigues that a humanitarian approach will be employed throughout the relocation and resettlement programme and that assistance will be provided for all persons.

“We will ensure that you get your house lots [and] we will ensure that we help you to settle somewhere you can be comfortable,” she said, as she urged residents to work with the Ministry.

It was pointed out that an inventory of the area was conducted in 2022. During Friday’s exercise, a number of persons were able to verify documents and those who were unable to register for house lots were given the opportunity to initiate the process.

The minister outlined that as part of the government’s macro plan to push access to treated water on the coastland from fifty-two per cent (52%) to ninety per cent (90%) by 2025, thirteen (13) new water treatment plants will be constructed. Contracts were awarded in 2022 for the construction of seven (7) plants in Regions Two, Three and Four. This year, construction of another six (6) is expected to begin, including the one at Bath. She further stated that funding has already been approved by the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) and the Ministry is working to prepare the sites and start the tendering process in the coming weeks.

It was stressed that although the water treatment facility at Bath will initially provide service to at least 17,000 persons, its design will allow for expansion, in tandem with the government’s vision for the regional housing sector.  

“Once we construct this treatment plant as well, it has the capacity to be built in a way where we can even give access to more people, to over 24,000 people,” Rodrigues said.

She continued, “the region is growing tremendously and as we open more house lots and we open more areas, we have to ensure that we have the ability to expand so that everybody gets the same quality of water and development is moved at the same pace across all of the regions”.

Minister Rodrigues also met one-on-one with several other residents from the community on a number of housing and water issues.