Padarath Urges Government to Pay T&TEC Debt, Not Burden Citizens

Princes Town MP, Barry Padarath has described the call by Public Utilities Minister, Marvin Gonzales for citizens to pay the 4 billion dollars’ debt T&TEC has to NGC as shameless and insolent.

Padarath recalled that in a question to the Parliament last September, the Minister of Public Utilities admitted that Ministries and state enterprises had a total outstanding debt of 1.5 billion dollars to T&TEC. He argued that this has contributed significantly to the inability of T&TEC to meet its financial obligations.

Padarath has further called on the Minister of Public Utilities to tell the country whether the government has paid any of the 1.5 billion dollars it owes to T&TEC before calling on citizens to carry the burden of paying the debt T&TEC has to NGC.

The Opposition Shadow Minister for Public Utilities said that while Gonzales was making a case for citizens to pay more for water and electricity, both WASA and T&TEC have suffered financially because of the government’s indebtedness to these two state enterprises over the last nine years. He said that there has been a concerted effort to drive the state enterprises in the public utilities sector into the ground in an effort to demonize workers and unions as well as to stack the companies with handpicked appointees who were under the control of the government.

Padarath has further called on the Minister of Public Utilities to say whether the government intends on removing the subsidy on the natural gas that T&TEC buys from NGC for the production of electricity. He said this is a question that must be answered ahead of the next General Elections because the removal of the subsidy would have a direct impact on the price citizens pay for electricity.

The Princes Town MP indicated that the government had gone tone deaf to the plight of citizens and Gonzales remarks were a reflection of a government totally disconnected from the pulse of the population on issues that affect their homes and their pockets.

Padarath added that had the government serviced its debt to T&TEC, the company would have been in a much better position to meet its obligations.

The MP added that before the government forces citizens to pay more for water and electricity, the level of service, supply and delivery has to be addressed. He stated that the public utilities sector was in shambles and that while the majority of citizens face dry taps, low voltages, damages to their appliances during outages etc., the reality was that many persons were also unemployed or barely making enough on put food on their tables because of the socio economic conditions in the country.