Give them water for Divali, MrMinister

THE EDITOR: It is with a sense of absolute frustration that I pen this letter pleading for the intervention of the Minister of Public Utilities to provide pipe-borne water to vast areas of under-served WASA customers in south Trinidad in particular.

Despite numerous letters to WASA and to Minister Marvin Gonzales, who is in charge of WASA, there remains no response.

Minister, I am positive that you are aware that the celebration of Divali is on Sunday (tomorrow). A major requirement of this religious observance is the clean-up of the homes of devotees in preparation for the family devotions in the evening.

Sadly, today many households in the constituency of Oropouche West specifically and in Penal and environs generally continue to be without a reliable water supply for several weeks.

My office has been inundated with calls from citizens pleading for water, many having spent substantial funds and time, waiting for hours on hold on the WASA hotline begging for a truck-borne supply and being told that the service is overwhelmed by demand and that it was uncertain when they would get a supply.

These residents would have seen reports of Gonzales boasting of 24/7 water supply in certain parts of the country and are becoming frustrated with having to tolerate the continued distress of going weeks and sometimes months without water in their taps.

The inability to undertake even basic clean-up in preparation for the observance of the Divali prayers makes this situation untenable.

I am forced to write to you, Minister Gonzales, via the newspaper, as messages and calls have yielded no positive results. This desperate need for water and the absolute failure of the Government to provide a supply for months to citizens was even raised in Parliament by myself as their elected representative without any remedial action by the Government or WASA.

Minister, on behalf of these constituents, I plead with you to ensure that water is turned on in these areas so that citizens will be allowed to engage in their religious practices as they are entitled to.

DAVENDRANATH TANCOO

MP, Oropouche West