WATER borehole drilling is underway on Gizo Island, Western Province.
This borehole drilling process is part of a project aimed at addressing the longstanding water shortage on the island where the Western Provincial capital is situated.
This project, once completed, is expected to ensure a constant supply of clean water to all Gizo town residents.
Currently, residents are heavily reliant on rain water for their household use. No rain means no water for tanks, wells and the ongoing daily pursuit for water.
The water borehole drilling task is not easy as contractors assigned with the task will need more time, manpower and specialists to take samples of the water from the water table to send overseas for thorough analysis.
Questions have been raised already by some members of the public, including long retired government workers, about the capacity of the water lake at the Mile 6 Area where the main water supply will be sourced and distributed to the township.
Many have expressed that it is not possible for Gizo Island to provide enough water to all residents of Gizo township, given the fact that the island has no mountain.
They said due to its landscape of the Gizo island, the main water source at Mile 6 always gets almost dried up during long dry spells.
“But this doesn’t mean that some of the streams and water sources on the island cannot produce water. There will always be water but not at the level to be distributed through the new water system to Gizo. That is another story and will be a challenge,’’ a long time Paelonge resident claimed.
‘’The problem here is, Gizo Island itself cannot provide consistent water supply for mass distribution to its residents because there is a low capacity of water for distribution,’’ he added.
A retired officer from the Ministry of Forestry and Research who used to work at Poitete in Kolombangara and also Gizo recalled that after the tension in early 2000, one of the engineering groups from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) drilled few of the bore holes at the Mile 6.
The retired Ministry of Forestry and Research worker who declined to be named said that this was engineering team from Japan and involved highly qualified people but the project did not eventuate.
‘’You know what happened next? The project they came to do at the Mile 6 which was to do drilling for the water supply system for Gizo Township failed,’’ the retired Forestry worker explained.
‘’They brought in high tech machines and started digging the water source but were not able to continue on to the next phase due to soft ground located at the bottom of the surface which kept covering the tip of the water source whilst drilling process were conducted.
‘’This made it more difficult to withstand the textures of the soft particles of the ground that keeps covering the basin tip of the water source.
‘’In this case, it will need a high technology invention machine to hold the soft ground from the bottom surface of the water source to allow the drilling process to run smoothly without any interruption,’’ the retired forestry officer said,
The retired officer was on the field at the Mile 6 where he worked looking after trees owned by the government. He was there when the engineering team from Japan tried to drill some of the boreholes but not long after, they left.
The expected duration of the current borehole drilling task at Mile 6, which started in October last year, is six months but the drilling task appears to be still a long way from completion.
‘’Something is not right here, if we cannot take out water in Gizo, then find another way,’’ a Gizo resident said.
A brief meeting held last year by the technical people hired by Solomon Water and the Suez Company and representatives of the Western Province caretaker government concluded that if the Mile 6 Water Project does not meet the standard criteria or fails, the next option is to connect a water pipe from one of the water sources in Kolombanagara to Gizo.
It is still unclear whether the water sample from Mile 6 has already been sent to Australia.
This process also very significant because only the test will determine if the water source is safe.
If the sample test turns out negative, then the whole project will be a failed project and this leave Gizo with no option but to source water from Kolombangara Island.
The other option suggested by a Gizo resident is desalination.
“Why not ask Israel to help us with a desalination plant,” a long time Gizo resident, Fulton Lesimata said.
By ULUTAH GINA
Solomon Star, Gizo
