WASA consultant paid US$70,000

WASA paid US$70,000 or about $490,000 to a consultant, Albert Gordon, to do its business plan and document its case for a rate hike using Inter American Development Bank (IDB) funding, learnt Parliament’s Joint Select Committee (JSC) on Local Authorities, Service Commissions and Statutory Authorities chaired by Ian Roach yesterday.

Asked by JSC member Khadijah Ameen, WASA CEO Dr Ellis Burris said WASA itself did not have the expertise possessed by Gordon.

Ameen said she found that hard to believe, saying WASA officials are well-paid.

Roach asked if the Public Service has such expertise, to which Ministry of Public Utilities (MPU) deputy permanent secretary Beverly Khan replied yes, but said this would come from several people drawn together from the MPU, Ministry of Planning and Ministry of Finance. WASA chairman Romney Thomas justified the consultant by noting time constraints and the Public Service’s lack of certain competencies.

Earlier Roach lamented last September seeing a gushing leak from a WASA water main at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Port of Spain, that was not repaired for six months. Romney admitted that scenario was inexcusable and should be looked into.

WASA customer care director Alan Poon-King said WASA has an average response time of 19 days to complaints of leaks, and Ameen said that figure was not the reality seen by the general public, adding, “Customer care leaves a lot to be desired.”

She asked about a possible rate rise. RIC executive director Dr James Lee Young said under the law the RIC must advocate for WASA’s “prudent and efficient operation,” and if the utility is inefficient and overstaffed, the RIC will not pass those inefficiencies on to the general public but will cap it.

Asked if WASA is efficient, he suggested the answer was “no” by saying greater efficiency is measured by a smaller number of staff per 1,000 connections. He said WASA’s ratio is 12 to 14 employees per 1,000 connections, compared to seven to eight employees in Barbados, and three to four employees for North America and Europe.

Dr Lovell Francis urged that a second booster pump should be installed in his Moruga constituency, where any breakdown of the sole existing pump deprives residents of their already meagre once-per-week supply.

Ameen asked the cost to supply each load of truck-borne water, to which WASA’s director of finance Rachelle Wilkie replied $300 to$500 per truckload, described as an “exceptionally expensive and highly inefficient” way to supply water.

JSC member Esmond Forde said the total cost to WASA of trucking water could be calculated from these figures and by noting WASA made 47,900 such deliveries in a year.

Otherwise the JSC learnt 94 per cent of the population has piped water, but this was subject to scheduling.

On a possible rate hike, Thomas said WASA’s last rate review was in 1993, while RIC chairman Hyacinth Guy said any future hike must be accompanied by better service to the customer.