Senior Investigative Reporter
shaliza.hassanali@guardian.co.tt
Almost four years after the closure of the Siparia Community Swimming Pool (SCSP) facility, the Ministry of Sport and Community Development (MSCD) continues to pay $44,928 a month to Ibis Security Services to protect the pool’s equipment and facilities.
A 25-metre-long outdoor pool and a smaller pool nearby were closed in March 2020 during the COVID-19 lockdown measures.
Despite a promise by the ministry to have the six-lane pool reopened last March, this never materialised, and the public has been voicing their displeasure about the facility going to waste.
In the 47 months the pool has been closed, taxpayers have forked out $2.1 million in security fees. The State also has to foot the facility’s electricity, telephone and water bills even though it is not in use.
The average cost to operationalise one pool annually is $631,000.
A breakdown showed the annual estimated cost for materials and supplies of each pool was $250,000 while repairs and maintenance were calculated at $250,000.
The average monthly bills for water, electricity and telephone were put at $20,950.
The figures were obtained from a 2023 report produced by the Public Administration and Appropriations Committee (PAAC).
In 2012, Cabinet transferred the responsibility of janitorial, security and landscaping services to the SporTT Company for all of the ministry’s community swimming pools.
SporTT Company falls under the purview of the MSCD.
A 2021 PAAC report which also examined the maintenance of swimming pools by the then Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs stated that the Siparia pool was also inoperable during July and August of 2019 due to electrical problems with the pump.
It revealed that works proposed for 2020 included upgrades to the pool’s pavilion, offices and external lighting.
The PAAC had raised questions about the estimated start date for work on the pool and its cost.
The report revealed the Siparia pool owed T&TEC $18,582.55 for three billing cycles in 2019.
A bill of $108 was also outstanding to the Water and Sewerage Authority for that same year.
It showed that from 2015 to 2019, the Siparia pool generated $9,800 in “learn to swim” classes for schools.
In total, the pool earned $30,502.82 in recreational swimming and $65,000 in “learn to swim” sessions for the public from 2015 to 2019.
Why the pool remains closed
On January 16, the Sunday Guardian reached out to the ministry’s communications manager Antonette Brotherson-Brusco for an update on the status of the SCSP.
She said that the pool was closed in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 restrictions.
When the restrictions were lifted a year later, Brotherson-Brusco said, the ministry assessed its sporting facilities to ensure they were prepared for the resumption of sporting activities. It showed that the Siparia pool had a myriad of issues which ranged from malfunctioning pump and filtration systems to significant electrical problems, inoperative air conditioning and failures in domestic plumbing, including damaged fixtures and fittings.
“These issues pose safety concerns for the facility’s users and operators.”
Questioned what would be the cost for the pool to be up and running again, Brotherson-Brusco could not say.
Ministry seeking qualified contractor to execute works
However, she explained that “refurbishment works to the pool phase II was advertised for expressions of interest on January 3, 2024, and was closed on January 10.”
The ministry, Brotherson-Brusco said, was seeking to engage a suitably qualified contractor to execute works at the south-based facility.
“These items include, but are not limited to, separation of pool A and pool B (and installation of additional pumps to support this isolation).”
She also disclosed there was a need for an overhaul of identified plumbing lines and subsequent pressure testing as well as resurfacing of pool B.
“Once successfully awarded, these works are expected to have a two-month duration.”
Brotherson-Brusco did not give a specific timeline for the completion of these works.
The report
Last February, technocrats from the MSCD appeared before a PAAC to examine the maintenance of nine community swimming pools under their ambit.
The committee chaired by Bridgid Annisette-George heard that three pools required refurbishments while four were operational.
It was disclosed that the Cocoyea pool was reopened last January after being closed for five years.
An 85-page report compiled by the committee showed that Siparia, Sangre Grande, Diego Martin and La Horquetta community swimming pools were at phase three of refurbishment and “were to be reopened by the end of March 2023.”
Almost a year later, at least two of these pools–Siparia and Sangre Grande remain inoperable.
Last month, Guardian Media reported that the Sangre Grande Community Swimming had also been closed since 2021 and the ministry was engaged in a procurement process to select qualified contractors for a major facelift this year.
Residents in Sangre Grande complained that the pool had not been achieving what it was designed to do–provide development among the community’s youth, swimming classes for schools, water aerobics for the elderly and recreational activities for communities.
Instead, they described the pool as a disgrace and an eyesore in their community.
The ministry anticipated the cost to have the Sangre Grande pool functional again would not exceed $1 million.
The report further stated that untimely receipts of releases by the Finance Ministry were the ministry’s biggest challenge in the maintenance of these pools.