WASA 16% Continuous Supply after 7 years of PNM
Princes Town MP, Barry Padarath said that he was not surprised by the revelation made by WASA at the Joint Select Committee on Land and Physical Infrastructure yesterday, that only sixteen percent of the population receives a continuous supply of potable water.
Padarath called on the Minister of Public Utilities to explain to the population how did WASA move from seventy-four percent continuous supply under the Kamla Persad Bissessar administration to sixteen percent under the current regime. Further, Padarath questioned what has the government been doing in the past seven years, that today it has brought WASA to its knees and passing the burden of poor supply on to the population.
The Opposition Shadow Minister of Public Utilities said that despite the Government’s announcement of Modulated Water Treatment Plants that deals with production, the Acting CEO of WASA confirmed to the Joint Select Committee that fifty percent of WASA’s potable water is lost in distribution as a result of aging infrastructure and leakages. Padarath indicated that this is a matter that he has been raising over the past few months and it has fallen on deaf ears since the government has not addressed the issue of pipelines that are over eighty years old, dilapidated mains and rotting conduits.
The MP also stated that in the years 2002 and 2009 a PNM administration took water from DESALCOTT at commercial rates and placed it on the domestic grid thereby putting WASA at a financial disadvantage. This disadvantage created by PNM administrations in 2002 and 2009 created a significant part of the financial woes at WASA.
Padarath said what was also alarming was that the Acting CEO of WASA indicated at the Joint Select Committee meeting held in public, that WASA has received no instructions, advice or recommendations from the Government as it relates to the Sub-Cabinet Committee Report into WASA’s management despite having been laid in the Parliament over one year ago. He further claimed that it was equally alarming that the Acting CEO of WASA told the Joint Select Committee that he was unaware of the contents of the report.
Barry Padarath
Princes Town MP