Facing serious water woes in 28 areas, the Penal/Debe Regional Corporation convened an urgent statutory meeting yesterday to address, what it claimed was, the non-release of critical funding for water trucking by the Central Government.
Chairman Gowtam Maharaj said the PDRC has not received a single cent from Government as yet for water truck delivery even though $700,000 was allocated in the last Budget.
Speaking after the meeting, Maharaj said the failure of the Minister of Finance to release these funds has plunged these communities into a desperate struggle for survival.
He described the conditions residents are facing as drought-like with families struggling without water.
And while some residents alleged they are being charged for truck-borne water by WASA officials and private contractors, Maharaj said they have put systems in place to ensure there is no corruption in water trucking.
“We have put in a three-tiered system this time around. We are strict on accountability. There will be roving supervisors doing an audit, there will be a monitor on the truck requiring signatures of recipients. We have done extensive double-checking of the list of recipients that have been submitted and we will also be doing an audit,” he said.
He noted that the council also recommended doing an independent audit by checking with the recipients to ensure they receive water.
“We are holding strongly to accountability for water and we will not tolerate any corruption. Outside of water trucking, we are putting systems in place for self-auditing and independent auditing,” he said.
Maharaj said in the last fiscal budget, $700,000 was allocated for water trucking, but to date, the corporation has not received a single cent.
“We service 28 communities every dry season. We are now in March, it is a harsh dry season and we have not started to deliver yet,” he said. Asked whether the corporation planned to purchase more trucks, Maharaj said this has always been a contracted service because it is seasonal.
“If we get the funds, yes, we will try to get more equipment,” he said.
Because of the gravity of the water shortage, Maharaj said there has been a hotline set up to help burgesses with water.
To those customers who are paying for water, Maharaj reminded the public that this is illegal.
Maharaj also noted that 14 private water contractors are hired through tender by the Corporation to deliver water to those areas which do not have a pipe-borne supply.
Meanwhile, the councillor for Penal Shanti Boodram said there were ten areas worst hit by water shortages.
“Those are the high point areas where the water is not reaching, Sunrees Road, Halliday Trace, Penal Rock Road, Scotts Road, Penal Quinam Road and San Francique Road which right now is waiting for a supply,” she said.
She noted that WASA has been rotating the schedules every fortnight.
“It takes two and three weeks for pipeborne water to return to the taps and this is unfair to residents,” she said. Boodram called on Finance Minister Colm Imbert to explain why monies were not released.
Councillor for Barrackpore West Nicholas Kanhai said data have been collated which showed that residents receive pipe-borne water every 21 days and every 18 days in other areas.
“We are actively pursuing a petition and will present it to RIC. WASA’s portal crashes and people cannot make requests for water,” Kanhai said.
Contacted for comment WASA’s acting CEO Kelvin Romain said: “WASA, in anticipation of the dry season have augmented our water truck capacity. As such, water-stressed areas will benefit,” Romain said.
Guardian Media reached out to Minister Imbert for comment on when funds will be released but there was no response.