​Public Utilities Minister criticises WASA

Accusing the managers of the state-owned Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) in the first phase of the pipeline project in the Point Fortin district of mismanagement, Public Utilities Minister Marvin Gonzales openly criticised them.

On Saturday, at the launch of the Guapo/Cap-de-Ville pipeline project in Cap-de-Ville, Gonzales said the first phase, which involved a small area of work, took over one year and six months, which he described as ridiculous.

The delays in the first phase started in 2020.

"I am criticising the management of WASA, who managed the first phase of this project, because there was absolutely no reason why a two-kilometer pipe laying project would have taken over one year," he said.

He estimated the second phase, about 4.2 kilometres, would take three months "once we continue to have good weather."

"On this occasion, we are ensuring that the lessons learnt, good or bad, from the first experience, is not going to be repeated," he told the gathering.

Gonzales warned contractors that should they mismanage the project, they will be held accountable.

Over 10,000 customers are set to benefit from the project by getting an improved water supply.

He said the WASA today is different from the WASA of two or three years ago.

He added that while people want improvements in their water supply, very few people wish to be inconvenienced because of it. The minister charged that the Government would ensure that every project is properly managed to mitigate and reduce the inconveniences to residents.

Gonzales shared some of the ministry's plans for the fiscal year (2024) in southwest Trinidad, including drilling ten production wells and providing about 1.5 million gallons of water to Palo Seco and surrounding areas.

He added that under the community water improvement programme, the ministry improved water supply to over 178,000 citizens and completed over 58 projects within three years.

Gonzales recalled the refurbishment at the La Fortune Treatment Plant, which was not operating for years, saying it now supplies over 500,000 gallons of water.

On Sunday, Princes Town MP Barry Padarath, commented on Gonzales' criticisms of WASA, saying it was symptomatic of the PNM passing the buck.

Padarath slammed the minister and accused him of attempting to separate himself from WASA amidst the "challenges and incompetence at the state institution."

A media statement from the Opposition MP added, "That this narrative being peddled by the Minister was a naked attempt to shirk responsibility from himself."

Padarath, the Opposition's shadow minister of public utilities, said the Government's policy that determines how WASA operates and functions, including appointing the commissioners to WASA's board to make management decisions.

The MP insisted that WASA's woes were due to his incompetence and that of those the Government put on the board of WASA to institute government policy.

Padarath accused Gonzales and his Cabinet colleagues of failing to deliver meaningful development to the ministry.

He recalled that the minister had been "parroting" WASA's transformation for the past three years and today laments about the organisation's inefficiency.

"The reflection made by the minister is not an indictment on WASA but rather an indictment on his own performance," the statement said.

"While Gonzales was busy blaming WASA for all the woes in the water sector, he must tell the population what has become of the grandiose announcements he made about ten modulated water plants to ease the country's water deficit."