Minister of Public Utilities Marvin Gonzales has firmly denied that there is a plan by the Government to retrench over 2,000 Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) workers.
The claim was made by Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar in her 2023 Budget response in Parliament yesterday.
Persad-Bissessar alleged that she had been provided with documents which showed that 2,500 jobs will be lost at WASA as part of the restructuring exercise.
But in his contribution, Minister Gonzales rubbished the claim.
“So, when the Leader of the Opposition comes here this morning and talks about some action plan, there is no action plan approved by the Government of Trinidad and Tobago to reduce staff by 2,000 employees at WASA. I am not aware of it,” Gonzales said.
Gonzales said the Government has been transparent with its plan for WASA.
“I was astounded. I was astounded because the views of the Government for the operations of WASA are all contained in a report that was laid before the House and therefore, we have nothing to hide. We have nothing to hide with respect to the operations of WASA,” he added.
He said there is one action plan approved by the Government with respect to WASA, and that speaks to the improvement of water for all the people of this country.
Gonzales explained that two years ago, the Government laid the report of findings of the Cabinet sub-committee on WASA.
“This report was laid for every single member to read and every single citizen who might be interested in the operations of WASA. That report was laid bare before this House,” he said.
He then accused the Opposition Leader of trying to “rile up” the people of this country, as he asked for more details of the action plan she referred to.
“Because so far in the last two years, I have levelled with the people of Trinidad and Tobago with respect to WASA and there is absolutely nothing to hide,” Gonzales said.
As it relates to the water supply, he explained that work will continue on all the water treatment plants across the country.
“As we undertake some critical intervention to rehabilitate those plants, we are confident that communities all over Trinidad and Tobago will see an improvement in their water supply,” he assured.
The minister also gave the undertaking that the water leak backlog of over 5,000 is being dealt with and expects that the entire backlog would be eradicated by November this year.
“And therefore, the authority (WASA) will be in a better position to respond and comply with the RIC (Regulated Industries Commission) standard to repair leaks within 24 to 48 hours,” he said.
However, the minister’s statements did not convince Princes Town MP Barry Padarath.
He quoted from a document he purported to be the Quality-of-Service Standard Report of WASA dated August 14, 2022.
“(This document) says that 52 per cent of all the areas in Trinidad and Tobago that are on a scheduled supply of water are non-compliant,” he said.
Padarath explained that the RIC standard is that customers must receive water for at least 48 hours within a week in terms of scheduling.
The Princes Town MP also questioned the water quality in this country.
He said in March of this year, WASA assured that its water is safe to consume and complies with the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines.
But Padarath read from page 174 of another document he said was WASA’s business plan.
“It states that while the portable water remains bacteriologically safe, compliance with the physio-chemical quality remains at around 65 per cent although the standard proposed by the RIC is the World Health Organization guideline of 95 per cent. WASA has failed to meet the scientific testing of the quality of water to be consumed by the people of Trinidad and Tobago,” he said.
Padarath said Gonzales must explain why he told the country that WASA was compliant with the WHO standards.