More co-ordination with WASA needed

Collaboration between the Ministries of Local Government and Works and Transport and the Water and Sewage Authority (WASA) were among some of the recommendations put forward by a Joint Select Committee on Land and Physical Infrastructure yesterday.

Speaking at a press conference concluding inquiries made by the committee, member Nigel De Freitas said, “Trinidad has a higher per capita usage of water compared to other territories in the region. There is 50 per cent of unaccounted-for water. The collaboration of entities like WASA and the Ministry of Works and Transport is not exactly where it should be to allow for the timely fixing of leaks.

“One of the things that we recommended was to avoid the constant digging up of the roads was the closer collaboration between the ministry and the WASA. That’s just one of the many recommendations we put forward to mitigate problems.”

De Freitas noted data from WASA suggested that as much as 50 per cent of water supplied does not reach its intended destination, owing to wastage by customers, illegal connections and leakages along pipelines. This has been the case for many years. De Freitas said one suggestion put forward by the committee to mitigate this included a closer monitoring of water usage on a household basis, using meters and long-term solutions like closer partnership between WASA and the Ministry of Works and Transport.

Member and Mayaro MP Rushton Paray also said one suggestion put forward by the committee was sterner legislation to treat effectively with errant contractors who build illegal structures that may be damaging to waterways.

Citing experience from his own constituency, Paray said illegal developments were among the major contributors to water wastage, and tougher policies and legislation could minimise water wastage.

Member Glenda Jennings-Smith encouraged closer collaboration between the relevant ministries and agencies to achieve more effective maintenance of infrastructure. She said sharing work programmes to organise repair and maintenance were key to long-term success in planning and development projects and also necessary to ensure maximum use of resources.