inoperable

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– additional 22 expected by next weekThe capacity of the Georgetown sewerage system is poised to be increased by at least 50 percent in a matter of months with the addition of new submersible waste water pumps. The Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) had earlier this year signed an agreement for the procurement of 28 of these pumps of which six have already arrived, according to GWI’s Acting Director of Capital Investment and Planning, Altaf Gafoor. He revealed yesterday that the remaining 22 are slated to arrive by next week.The sewerage system is currently undergoing an extensive and urgent rehabilitation programme which according to a confident Gafoor, is moving apace.In fact he noted that there have been no constraints hindering the progress of the works which remains within the confines of the plan formulated by the contractor. However, at the moment, the pumps are not being installed, as the programme of activities to rehabilitate the sewerage structures must first be completed before the pumps can be installed.And though the aim is to have the works completed within the stipulated deadline, Gafoor asserted that there is always the likelihood that unforeseen constraints could “pop up.”The contractual deadline for the entire project is June next year. “We are doing our utmost to ensure that we get these (inoperable) pumps that had stopped working in the early 90s, operational. We haven’t yet touched the ones that are working so when the inoperable ones are rehabilitated we will add capacity to the system.”According to Gafoor, it is expected that when the time comes to attend to the existing operable pumps the performance capacity of the sewerage system will in no way be affected as the new pumps would have already been installed.Just a few months ago, Minister of Housing and Water, Irfaan Ali, divulged that GWI is faced with the challenge of managing critical sewerage chambers in the city even as efforts are made to upgrade the system.GWI earlier this year inked a US$422,560 contract with FCT Technologies Incorporated of Miami, Florida, for the supply of the pumps for the upgrade of the sewerage system.