Padarath to Minister Gonzales: Come clean on suspension of WASA CEO

PRINCES Town MP Barry Padarath is calling on the Minister of Public Utilities Marvin Gonzales to come clean with the nation and explain why WASA's acting CEO Sherland Sheppard was suspended by the board on Wednesday.

Padarath, the Opposition's shadow public utilities minister said in a press release on Monday that the suspension of Sheppard was a clear sign that the day-to-day management of WASA had failed and the utility was continuing to spiral out of control.

This is even more evident, Padarath claimed, that the reason cited for the suspension was “critical matters concerning the management of the authority.” Padarath called on Gonzales to tell the public exactly what these critical matters were that led to the suspension and whether it had anything to do with someone's insubordination to fire WASA employees on government's insistence.

After the resignation of WASA’s Executive Director/Chief Executive Officer Dr Lennox Sealy in July, and now the suspension of Sheppard, Padarath is also questioning the process used in appointing new acting CEO, Kelvin Romain.

The MP asked what exactly are Romain's qualifications and if this is commensurate with the position he has been put to act in.

Padarath also asked if people being put to acting in certain position are closely aligned to several government ministers and if people were being brought in to simply rubber-stamp actions by the government.

He called for Romain's curriculum vitae to be put in the public space so that the public can determine for themselves if he is qualified to be acting CEO.

Padarath's release also claimed there have been eight different CEOs in WASA over the past seven years and the line minister and WASA's board must come clean and furnish answer for this state of affairs.

He insisted there must be no cover-up in the state utility.