THE mining town of Linden, in Region 10 (Upper Demerara/Berbice), will benefit from an integrated management strategy to assess and optimise watershed and drinking water system operations.
The announcement was made Wednesday last at the opening of the second National Programme of Action (NPA)/Water Safety Plan (WSP) workshop held at the Georgetown Club on Camp Street.

Permanent Secretary, Mr. Hydar Ally, speaking at the forum, said the Ministry of Health is pleased with the initiative and he outlined the objectives of the two-day seminar which include:

- consideration of stage two NPA development process as laid out by the Global Programme of Action (GPA), specifically to identify the issues, constraints and opportunities in the context of the watershed areas in Linden neighbouring communities that drain into the Demerara River;

- the advancement of the WSP through consideration of the System Description and Completion Assessment and

- the consideration of ways in which the NPA and WSP initiatives can complement each other and be implemented under a joint institutional framework.

Among the other participants were Dr Richard Gelting, Partnership Representative of the Global Water Unit Team of the United States (U.S.) Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); Executive Director of the Caribbean Environmental Health Institute (CEHI), Ms. Patricia Aquing, Sustainable Development Advisor to President Bharrat Jagdeo, Mr. Navin Chandarpal and Chief Executive Officer of Guyana Water Inc., Mr. Karan Singh.

Aquing recalled that, in November 2006, Linden was chosen for a joint project, which is a government initiative and a workshop was conducted there last May, to sensitise residents on it.

But much has transpired since then, she reported, including that the NPA and WSP coordinators have developed detailed project work plans and have been working closely with task force members to undertake various project activities.

According to her, the programme now underway will serve as an opportunity to update stakeholders on the activities undertaken to date; discuss preliminary findings; collaborate on exercises and activities designed to further progress and work together to map the way forward.

The NPA/WSP project is supported by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Pan American Health Organisation/World Health Organisation (PAHO/WHO), CEHI, the U.S. CDC and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in collaboration with environmental and health agencies of the Government of Guyana, such as, the Health Ministry, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and GWI.