Water woes still overflowing

THE PICTURE featured on our Tuesday front page showing residents of the Olera Heights development in San Fernando crouching over a standpipe in the rain to fill up on water spoke volumes about the varied, multifaceted and persistent challenges relating to water supply.

Residents of this Housing Development Corporation (HDC) facility say the HDC has been blaming the Water and Sewage Authority (WASA), while WASA officials are reportedly pointing the finger in the other direction.

A faulty pump is at the centre of this blame game, but what is clear is some residents on lower floors are getting water, while others are not. Residents also say their development has been placed on a water schedule by WASA, like so many other areas of Trinidad, and this is an aggravating factor.

None of this should be. In this day and age, and at a relatively modern multi-storey housing facility such as Olera Heights, it is hard to figure out why state agencies have not managed to resolve the issues at play.

Don’t get us wrong. It’s not all bad news when it comes to water supply in this country.

In recent times, WASA has made headway when it comes to addressing its deteriorating infrastructure. For example, approximately 5,000 leaks have been repaired and leak repair times are also going down.

At Friday’s sitting of Parliament, Minister of Public Utilities Marvin Gonzales also noted a range of activities taking place to address the water woes being faced by residents of areas like Guaico, Tamana, Caratal and Carmichael.

In answer to a question from Cumuto/Manzanilla MP Dr Rai Ragbir, Mr Gonzales said facilities are being reconstructed and refurbished, new wells are being sunk, new booster stations are being built and more and more ground water is being harvested, instead of reliance being placed on surface sources. This, he said, would result in a “gradual improvement.”

But whatever gains are being made are being erased by the challenges increasingly posed by climate change, challenges which have resulted in more algal blooms, reduced rainfall, increased evaporation and higher consumer demand.

Such challenges have already begun to put more pressure on an already pressurised water grid. Supply has been reduced in areas that once enjoyed a 24/7 and a 24/5 supply and scheduling remains something many communities continue to grapple with nationally.

Meanwhile, the Regulated Industries Commission could soon examine proposals to increase water rates. And within WASA, restructuring remains pending, though there are reports this could happen by the end of this month. For the moment, there remains no substantive CEO.

The current April showers might help boost reservoir levels, but clearly, as Olera Heights residents know, it will take much more to solve our water woes.