Senior Investigative Reporter
shaliza.hassanali@guardian.co.tt
One week after Public Utilities Minister Marvin Gonzales called for an investigation into what caused a disruption in a regular supply of pipe-borne water to Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) customers at Kernanhan Trace, Chin Chin Road, Cunupia, one manager and two senior staff members at the utility have been suspended with full pay on allegations of misconduct.
The suspension letters, dated March 7, 2024, were signed by Trinnelle Thomas, acting assistant manager, employee relations, and copied to Alicia Brathwaite-Sammy, acting director of Human Resources.
The letters came mere days after Gonzales stated that an investigation was underway by WASA to determine if an alleged water trucking racket was behind the water woes which led Kernahan Trace residents to stage a fiery protest in their community last Friday.
Gonzales also promised that “heads will roll” arising out of the residents not being provided a reliable supply.
During the angry protest, one man was arrested and police used pepper spray on some residents when the situation became out of control.
The residents bitterly complained that their taps had been dry for months while neighbouring streets had a steady supply.
WASA subsequently provided a truck-borne supply to the affected residents and launched a probe into the matter, triggering the fast suspensions.
The investigation into an alleged water trucking racket is still underway.
The suspension letters, which have been obtained Guardian Media, showed that the female manager was responsible for carrying out duties in the North Central region, while the two senior male employees were assigned to the South Central district.
In the letter addressed to the female manager, it stated that the Employee and Labour Relations Department had received “a report dated March 5, 2024, from Director of Operations Shaira Ali, in which allegations of misconduct were made against you”.
The allegations raised in the manager’s letter were that “during the period January 2024 to March 2024, you failed to exercise due care in the performance of your duties by ensuring that the residents of Kernaham Trace, Cunupia, were in receipt of a regular supply of pipe-borne water”.
The letter also stated that during the same period, the manager “failed to exercise due care in the performance of your duties by not reporting to your immediate supervisor the challenges faced in providing a pipe-borne water supply to the residents of Kernaham Trace, which resulted in protest action by the residents, bringing the authority into disrepute”.
It further informed the manager that the authority viewed these allegations “seriously and as such, you are hereby suspended from duty with immediate effect with full pay pending the outcome of an investigation into the above allegations”.
In the letters to the two senior workers, WASA stated that approximately 70 Kernaham residents were without water for two months, which resulted in the protest action against the authority.
The Caroni Arena Water Treatment Plant supplies the residents with water.
One of the senior employees was told in the letter that he failed to ensure that the challenges affecting the residents were escalated to the district manager.
Copies of the three letters stated that senior manager, regulatory and emergency management, Roger Karim, was appointed to investigate allegations brought against the trio. They were all advised to cooperate with Karim throughout the investigation.
An inside source at WASA could not say how long the manager and senior workers would be on suspension.
“We are expecting a swift investigation,” he said.
The source said during this harsh dry season, WASA will pay close attention to its area managers “to ensure that communities do not go for an undue length of time without a water supply and things are escalated to senior executive leadership and the board”.
These managers, he said, will be held to account.
“You are paid to manage your district. No community should go without water for two or three weeks. This is unacceptable. If there is an issue and you see a few days pass and the community don’t have water and you can’t do anything, you either put contingencies in place to deal with it. Or if contingencies cannot be put in place, then you escalate it to the highest level so resources can be redeployed to assist those communities.”
Contacted yesterday, minister Gonzales said he had no comment to make regarding the suspensions.