Management of this country’s water resources leaves much to be desired. Successive administrations have failed to fix the problems and it is becoming progressively worse.
In 2017, during his first stint as Public Utilities Minister, Fitzgerald Hinds said his priority was to do what he could to improve WASA’s efficiency, “because I believe once WASA becomes more efficient the country will be better served.”
But the country still experiences severe problems with the supply and distribution of water, exacerbated by an old and leaking system of pipelines.
The situation has worsened in the past few months, just when the threat of COVID –19 made cleanliness an urgent necessity.
As of May 18, reservoirs were well below average for this time of year. At the Hollis Reservoir, capacity is at 30.12 per cent, below the 44.60 per cent, while Navet Reservoir, the second largest in the country, is at 34.07 per cent instead of 51.04 per cent.
The levels lowest in the Caroni/Arena Dam, the largest in the country which is at 26.83 per cent, down from an average of 55.66 per cent.
Tobago’s Hillsborough Reservoir is the only dam above average at 62.40 per cent compared to an average of 57.41 per cent.
It is perplexing that even in this scenario WASA is not looking for new sources of water from numerous wells across the country to increase the low supply. Instead, year after year, minister after minister, government after government the problem is never fixed.
Daily there are complaints from residents water problems. A Princes Town letter writer recently wrote about being without a pipe-borne supply for more than a month.
“WASA’s problem is not generation but distribution. Too many leaking pipes. Water metering makes excellent economic sense but not good political sense,” the resident wrote.
In 2018 the Regulated Industries Commission proposed that WASA implement universal metering. The system is described as a fair way of billing customers who pay for only what they consume.
But there are other benefits: Conservation of water, reduction of water consumption, typically in the amount of 15-50 per cent of production; and improved efficiency in monitoring and managing the operation of the water supply system (eg through improved leakage management).
According to the RIC, currently, four per cent of WASA customer’s base is metered. This was due to a pilot project in a small number of communities.
It is time to stop playing politics with water, and start doing something that will bring about meaningful and much-needed change in the water distribution process.
Minister Hinds can make a difference by not playing politics with the water supply. He should just step up to the task which he has been given to do. Even with an imminent general election he has the opportunity to bring about much-needed change.
WASA’s last rate increase was more than two decades ago but the cash strapped utility dare not implement any further increase until it gets its act together. What better time to start than now.