Mabaruma Regional Hospital well out of service -huge sums being spent to transport water

Huge debts are being incurred by the Region One (Barima-Waini ) Administration to transport water to the Mabaruma Regional Hospital for almost a month to date after the health facility’s well broke down.

Reports are that the pump which is used at the hospital’s well to pump water begun to experience problems sometime mid-December, 2015, and eventually the well (along with the pump) could no longer function.

Inews understands that one man in the area proposed to fix the well and have it ‘up and running’ at a cost of about $300,000 but relevant authorities stated they did not have the finances to pay the sum.

Subsequently, a decision was then made to source the supply of water by use of ‘black water tanks’ to the hospital costing an average of $15,000 per trip to the health facility. It is said that there are numerous trips being made on a weekly basis.

Thus far, hundreds of thousands of dollars have been spent transporting water instead of fixing the well.

Regional Chairman Brentnol Ashley told Inews on Tuesday that it had been brought to his attention that the well at the Mabaruma Regional Hospital “has been giving some problems”.

“In the interim what was decided to do was have water sourced always to provide the hospital so that we could have the continuity of service. Hence we would have come into agreement with the Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) to facilitate extra pumping hours to the hospital so that besides the well, which we are working currently to have corrected, we will get extra water to the hospital so that it can be supplied,” he stated.

Ashley explained that presently the relevant authorities have been engaging persons with experience in fixing wells and pumps to determine who will be tasked with rectifying the problem at the hospital. He acknowledged that in the meanwhile it will come at a cost to the region if water will have to continue to be sourced until the problem can be solved.