MP WARNS, THIS IS NOT THE END OF WASA WOES
Less than a month ago, MP for Princes Town, Barry Padarath warned of more to come as it relates to failing infrastructure at WASA and this morning he is sadly being proven right as hundreds of citizens are now without water once again due to breaks in pipelines etc.
Padarath is once again raising concerns that budget cuts in a critical area such as repairs and maintenance for these aged infrastructure is wreaking havoc among the population. WASA saw their budget in this line item cut by 350 million in 2021 and 250 million in 2022.
The Shadow MP is therefore calling the government disingenuous for blaming God for what is really their own poor policy decisions and lack of foresight. Padarath is claiming that proper maintenance and monitoring of these aged infrastructure would have mitigated many of the challenges being faced by WASA today.
For the last 2 years, Padarath has been raising the issue of aging infrastructure and the lack of maintenance both inside and outside of the Parliament and he finds no pleasure in having his warnings come to pass, as the citizens are the only persons feeling the pain of this government’s failure to plan effectively.
Padarath is once again calling on WASA to tell the country what mechanisms are in place in terms of monitoring these things, noting that in the case of one repair, it requires land to be cleared to access the infrastructure.
Why weren’t these areas looked at before?
Why haven’t these aged pipelines been changed out before, in a more proactive and preventative manner? These are just some of the questions being raised by the Shadow Minister for Public Utilities.
Padarath is once again warning that this is not the end for us as it is evident that once there is prolonged and heavy rainfall, WASA’s infrastructure collapses and citizens are without water.
Padarath is calling for an immediate review of all WASA mains, pipelines, substations and pumps adding that the government should have foreseen these issues given the age of the infrastructure but as always, it is too little, too late with this Rowley regime.