Opposition parliamentarian Sherod Duncan has called on the Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) and the government to explain the apparent abandonment of a water-supply project at Santa Cruz on the Waini River in Region One, despite repeated commitments dating back to 2021.
In a statement following a visit to the community, Duncan said he found solar panels, pipes, hoses and machinery at the project site, but no functioning water-supply system.
According to the MP, some of the machinery was partly covered by tarpaulins, while pipes and other materials were lying in vegetation. He also reported seeing exposed pipe openings near a water-filled excavation.
“At the time of my visit, I found no functioning, connected water-supply system at this site. It appeared unattended and abandoned,” Duncan said.
He argued that the presence of equipment and construction materials could not be presented as the delivery of potable water to residents.
The project follows several government commitments to improve the community’s water supply. Stabroek News reported in November 2021 that Santa Cruz was among several communities where GWI intended to drill wells during 2022.
Santa Cruz was subsequently listed in the Ministry of Finance’s 2024 Mid-Year Report among the locations where well drilling was expected to be completed during the second half of that year.
In January 2025, then Minister of Housing and Water Collin Croal again identified Santa Cruz as one of the communities earmarked for the construction of a new water-supply system.
The government has allocated $21.6 billion to the water sector in the 2026 national budget. Of that amount, $1.5 billion is intended to expand potable-water access to more than 37,000 hinterland residents through the drilling of wells and the installation of distribution systems and solar equipment.
Duncan said the allocations must result in completed and reliable services rather than equipment being transported to communities and left unused.
“The promise is fulfilled when the system is completed, tested, connected and supplying safe water,” he said.
The MP called on GWI and the responsible ministry to disclose the scope and present status of the Santa Cruz project, the name of the contractor, the contract sum, payments made and the original completion deadline. He also wants the authorities to say whether extensions were granted and when the system is now expected to become operational.
Duncan further called for an urgent inspection of the site to determine the condition of the equipment and the amount of work still outstanding. Interim water assistance should be provided to residents if necessary, he added.
“The people of Santa Cruz deserve safe water reaching their homes, equipment working as intended and a service they can depend on,” Duncan said.
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