Halliday out, Jeevan Joseph to act as WASA CEO

TWO DAYS after he was described as a "failed CEO" by Public Utilities Minister Barry Padarath, Keithroy Halliday's tenure at state utility the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) has come to an abrupt end.

A statement from WASA on June 25, confirmed that Halliday had been replaced by Jeevan Joseph who was appointed acting CEO effective June 25.

St Kitt's-born Halliday, hired during the previous PNM administration at a monthly salary of $100,000, began work on December 01. He formerly worked as general manager of the Barbados Water Authority.

The statement said Joseph had over two decades of extensive technical and managerial expertise in the utilities sector and had worked at WASA since 2000.

He holds a bachelor of science in electrical and computer engineering from the University of the West Indies and is an MBA candidate at Anglia Ruskin University.

At WASA, the statement said, Joseph has held pivotal roles including manager of technical services for wastewater systems, where he spearheaded the development of standard operating procedures, asset management strategies and cutting-edge technological advancements to enhance operational efficiency and environmental sustainability.

The statement said that in his new role as acting CEO, Joseph will prioritise equitable water distribution, infrastructure resilience, and service reliability.

“I am honoured to lead WASA at this critical juncture,” Joseph said.

“My focus will be on collaborating with stakeholders, leveraging innovation, and ensuring that everybody in every community receives fair and sustainable access to pipe borne water. Together, we will build a stronger, more responsive WASA.”

On June 23, during debate on a motion to adopt the report of the Standing Finance Committee, Padarath slammed the previous PNM government saying, "they brought in a failed CEO from Barbados who had very little track record in terms of change management, in terms of changing out the authority."

Joseph's appointment is the latest piece to fall into place in WASA's new executive management structure.

On June 5, attorney Roshan Babwah was announced as new chairman of the board of commissioners, replacing Ravindra Nanga.

Babwah's deputy on the new board is Dr Maurice J Hoyte, acting president of the Eastern Credit Union.

Other members of the new board are Tawari Tota-Maharaj, Chaitram Brown, Kern D Saney, Naveen Maraj, Indra Mohammed and Patricia Henry.

Babwah said Joseph's appointment aligned with the boards goals of improving the nation's water service.

“The plan is to increase the supply and manage where there are shortages in terms of allocating resources to other areas. Some areas are 24/7 and we want to make sure that other communities get an adequate supply.”

He said WASA was looking to drill more wells and construct more desalination plants which should relieve the nation’s reliance on major dams

Babwah said, based on Joseph's competence, the board was satisfied with him as the new leader of the organisation.

More WASA executives, however, were also terminated on the same day of Joseph's appointment.

While unable to say exactly how many, Public Services Association (PSA) president Felisha Thomas said those fired were hired externally by the PNM five months ago to “decimate” WASA, terminate employees and form the new water management company.

"Those were people hired to execute the transformation of WASA in furtherance of the PNM cabinet sub-committee report which would have seen all WASA workers retrenched.”

The 185-page report, which was laid in the House in March 2021, said WASA was operating with an excess of 3,152 employees contrary to the 1999 cabinet-approved structure.

“That report, along with the management structure which was intended for the new water management company, has been scrapped by the Prime Minister saving 5,000 jobs in WASA. Therefore those positions no longer exist.”

She said the PSA looked forward to working with the new government and minister.

“They have done an excellent job of exposing the ills of the PNM on WASA affairs.”

Padarath confirmed the dismissals saying WASA heads met on June 25 to dismantle the transformation plan.

"That plan would have brought in Mr Halliday as the CEO to oversee the transformation by the former administration and then you had 34 senior executive management, some of whom came from within the organisation.”

He said those who came from within the organisation had returned to their previous positions while those who were not employees prior to being brought in by the transformation process were dismissed.

Padarath also expressed support of the board's decision to appoint Joseph.

“He has the experience, he has the competence and, therefore, in the absence of a substantive CEO, he has been placed to act until the process can be followed in terms of getting a substantive person to hold the position.”

Newsday attempted to contact Halliday, however, calls to his phone and WhatsApp messages went unanswered.