PADARATH: WASA’S ADVISORY IS CONTEMPTUOUS

Princes Town MP, Barry Padarath has stated that the Public Advisory put out by WASA on Tuesday August 6th is nothing short of contemptuous towards citizens in light of the impending shutdown at the Caroni Water Treatment Plant.

The Opposition Shadow Minister for Public Utilities stated that while WASA advised citizens to store water ahead of the shutdown, many communities and constituencies are without water for weeks and are unable to prepare for the impending shutdown, because there has been no water in the pipelines ahead of today’s shutdown.

Padarath further stated that once more, large swathes of the country will be without a supply of pipe borne water since there appears to be no additional reinforcement and mitigation plans in place. He stated that once more, WASA’s public advisory has indicated that there will be a limited supply of truck borne water which essentially translates into 99.9 percent of those wishing to access truck borne water will be unable to do so since WASA will be inundated with requests from citizens.

The MP added that over five hundred thousand customers are expected to use one hotline while others with limited means of accessing WASA’s digital platforms are being referred to their websites and social media pages. He called on the government to make it make sense since there appears to be no real tangible solutions to accessing alternative supplies of water.

Padarath also stated that there has been no additional allocations disbursed to regional corporations to assist in water trucking services therefore the corporations are unable to ease the burden and respond to the needs of more constituents and burgesses usually covered by the regional corporations in South and Central Trinidad.

The Princes Town MP lamented that the poor planning of WASA’s shutdown has become an annual feature of the government and the pleas of citizens have fallen on deaf ears.

He further stated that it appears as though there is no effective communications plan coming from the government to telegraph to citizens how WASA will be able to assist during the shutdown, far less for any alternative mitigation plans. He also pointed out that the Minister of Public Utilities and the government are behaving as though they are separate and apart from WASA during this fiasco when WASA and the government is one and the same as the government directs WASA’s policies and operations through their appointed board. Padarath said that the government was hiding behind WASA and public advisories to shield themselves from the vexation of the population.

The Princes Town MP called on the government to say how many more water trucking services have been added outside of WASA’s in-house teams and how many regional corporations the government is prepared to disburse funding to for additional water trucking services.