Over 200 residents of Moblissa on the Soesdyke-Linden Highway will soon receive access to potable water while a feasibility study will determine the possibility of bringing potable water to nearby Bamia.
This was communicated to the media after Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of GWI, Shaik Baksh and a technical team visited the sparsely populated communities to assess the water situation on Tuesday.
“We visited way down in Moblissa where there’s an incomplete storage facility and a well. The residents are not benefitting from this because over the past 3 years there were attempts to bring a supply of water to the people which did not prove successful,” Baksh explained in a GWI release
Having assessed the situation, GWI will be examining the productive capacity of the existing well within the next two weeks. If this proves successful, a Photovoltaic system will be installed.
Additionally, a trestle which was constructed in the community but never utilized, will be equipped with black water tanks as part of the rehabilitation works. This facility will serve as a central location for residents to access potable water, bringing much-needed relief.
One of the residents, Thelca Neblett, who lives in close proximity to the existing well, has installed her own pipes to access water from there, for which she was commended by the CEO.
Another resident, Tangamu Ngquondo said that he is grateful for the visit by the GWI team and even assured that the community members are willing to lend their support in the form of self-help to ensure potable water access.
The residents in the community primarily access water from the Moblissa Creek or via rainwater harvesting.
A further intervention in the community will be the drilling of a new well this year and the installation of a distribution network to provide water access for the Health Center, Primary School, and residents in close proximity.
Clinical attendant, Debra Cornelius said that they would be most grateful for the intervention since water is life and without it the health center cannot function effectively.
The CEO highlighted that the community is mainly Agricultural-based, hence other interventions will have to be done but not necessarily by GWI. He alluded specifically to an intervention to bring water from the creeks so that residents can have access to water for their cattle and farming.
Meanwhile, in the community of Bamia, which is also sparsely populated, a further study has to be done by the utility to determine how the community will gain access to potable water.
Baksh explained that drilling a well is a large investment and the company will therefore have to determine the feasibility, give the scattered housing and the small population in the community.
