A couple of questions, in light of this latest revelation about WASA's financial situation :

1).What was the departing 'allowance' for the last CEO, who quit after 3 months of service ? If he resigned of his own volition, I would hope that any severance would be = NIL ...
2). What is the status of the contract with the Israeli company to improve the infrastructure (signed just prior to the last general election) ?...

The service at WASA has been 'wanting' for many years now. It is no longer a 'one-off' situation. The employees always seem to be irritated by queries from paying customers, who are clearly viewed as a nuisance... And closing off a cashier at 3.12 PM is simply ridiculous...

Water is probably the cheapest resource we have, falling freely from the skies. Any additional cost is mainly processing and over-inflated salaries. If WASA were run like a private corporation with accountability to the shareholders', then the last CEO and Senior Managers would have been terminated a long time age...

Serious accountability is required right down to the workers on the street, where it sometimes takes more than a dozen 'workers' to repair even a small leak. In addition, minimal progress will be made with water conservation, until the aging infrastructure is replaced, and water meters installed...

So what's new.

People in T&T do not know what the real cost of delivering water, a basic human right.

There needs to be a thorough study done on the Supply of water and sewerage works in T&T. Also the value of the Water Resources to the country cannot be further underscored. Years of neglect and maladministration have led us to this point.

Internally, the Government needs to cut out all the managerial inefficiencies that led to this morass. Salaries is but one aspect of this. Bad decisions is the other. Abuse of resources is another.

The continued use of political appointees (No offence Mr. Singh) will not on its own alleviate the water woes in a country where flooding is the order of the day. We need some tested technocrats to run the utility and advise on harnessing this precious resource.

I am not an expert in this area, but my layman's view tells me that we need to address capture of water resources, capital infrastructural works, distribution and ongoing maintenance of the supply.

This is indeed a tall order for anyone stepping into a psoition of running this Utility. No wonder the last incumbent willingly relinquished his position after 3 months.

The citizenry must be prepared to pay a fair rate (not subsidized to the great extent it is right now) for supply of these services. The reliability of the service needs to be addressed also.

Unless the Government is prepared to invest meaningfully in this area and get the correct personnel to run the utility, which has suffered from years of neglect from regime to regime, we will continue to waste this precious resource of which T&T has an abundance.

Now on to the next Utility - Electricity.

Mr. George, Your work is cut out for you. But by "George" these things must be addressed.

KO

It is noted that the United Nations just passed a resolution that access to drinking water and sanitation is a basic human right. The resolution, according to the link below, showed that 122 countries voted in favour, 41, including T&T abstained and there were several absentees. It would be interesting to know why T&T abstained.

http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2010/ga10967.doc.htm

Over the years WASA has been a bed for corruption and maladministration and was a place for nepotism and employment of PNM hacks and supporters, like Grimes and Regis. We all remember the bloated salary and perks of Grimes in this grimy institution.

It is time that the salaries of these square pegs in round holes be cut until WASA can show some level of productivity to justify the continued employment of these leeches.

The new CEO must ensure that these WASA workers work, leaks are repaired, and if necessary old corroded mains and pipes be replaced instead of using sticking plaster type repairs. Now is the time to implement his "water for all" plan. Instead of rainy season flooding and havoc, dams should be built to capture this water which just runs off, saturates the ground or simply empty into the sea to return with the tides. Time to harness this destructive force of nature.

It's time to get rid of all the dead weight in WASA and make it lean and mean. Give them the ultimatum to shape up or ship out. Also make sure that in the procurement of goods and services, the tax payers get value for money. Also check on all properties receiving water from WASA sources are paying for the service. Too many illegal connections to people not paying for water they use.

Also all properties must be fitted with water meters to ensure that water rates are based on usage. If you conserve water you should be rewarded with lower bills; if you waste water then you must have to pay for it. These water meters must be read regularly and inspected periodically to ensure that they have not been tampered with.

It is time that a serious Government gets serious about cleaning out this Augean stable.

The joke that is 'Sweet TnT' continues to drag on without interruption or relief. One day I hope to read about something or someone in this La La Land that actually does work. Of course, I will then have to slap myself to see if I am dreaming or if the news is, indeed, real.

I must give the people of TnT a few words of praise though. Your collective patience and tolerance for corruption, incompetence, inefficiency and profound stupidity is beyond all measure. It defies all logic and understanding. How you put up with it is beyond me. So good luck with that you enlightened citizens of this great and wonderful country! Wonders never cease!

Midnight 'Venom' Slaver!

Dry you say...is that why no one answers the phone at WASA offices. Finally got through after an hour of trying, only to be told that their database was giving problems and I could not be given a water request number. Of course they said they would contact me with the number but haven't. Sweet T&T

WASA needs to improve dramatically in every aspect of its operations. From water delivery to replacing an overburdened sewer system, to building new sewers in rural and developing areas to approving new projects and to its administrative functioning or more accurately lack of functioning. I know of people with mistakes on their accounts that WASA cannot seem to rectify despite years of effort and time given to the matters by both parties. Personal experiences of awful service, very low productivity, and stink attitudes are the norm. Truly a third rate organisation if ever there was one.
How a utility can be allowed to malfunction so systematically and for so long is beyond me. Our prayers have to be with the Peoples Partnership as they undertake the task of righting so many wrongs. Good luck Messrs. George and Singh.

PS. Please make sure that all the money spent on the infrastructural upgrades is spent locally, we should not need a foreign contractor to lay pipe, no matter how big the pipe is. Give the local contractors a chance to learn even if they have to go slow. A slow but constant uprade is better than none at all and may be more desirable in the circumstances. Keep government expenditure local.

WASA well , run dry , so MR. minister & Mr.act. CEO,you frist need to get wasa woker's to work, then the bust pipe contractor's to do effective repair's that has a life span of more than six week's , as they presently produce . So that you will not have to pay for repairing the same leak , three & four times.may i suggest that you employ real plumber's , as apposed to chicken farmer's.then there is the employee's who clock there card and disapair, to there private business, or plumbing contract.in addation to the RED TAPE, and Bureaucracy,at WASA . it now take's seven month's to get a sewer isometric approval. This in the recent past took three week's. there is also the worker's sent on suspension with full pay, while the OJT'S clog the system.
Mr. Minister, i do not have contact in high places, that will allow me to share, this info with you. I have being dealing with WASA for thirty year's, and thing's have gone from bad to worst.

Corruption at WASA:

The majority of the operating deficit that we see above went to pay the salaries of PNM minions.

Water is a cheap commodity to produce and distribute, therefore there should be no excuse for not providing it to the people. All you've got to do is drill a hole in the ground, pump the water out, filter it, add chlorine and distribute it. The piping could last over 50 years, so you don't even have to replace them often.

WASA should be dissolved and replaced by three separate companies, one in the North, one in Central and one in the South and they should be controlled by the Local Government. This would be the cheapest and most efficient way to provide water to the people.

This is a BIG SCANDAL. So much of taxpayers money being spent to support WASA and we still getting inadequate water supply. People paying WASA bills and receiving no water. Ridiculous!!
Emmanuel George fire all those incompetent Managers at WASA and hire personnel who will deliver to the citizens of T&T. Check on the contractors and their workers and their shoddy work. These contractors must get work done properly and completed within specific time.
All over the country pipes bursting and water flowing for days and weeks and no response from WASA. Firefighters attaching their hoses onto Water Hydrants and there is no water to assist in executing their jobs.
Ganga Singh deal with this situation urgently. WASA is now like old BWIA to the Treasury. This has to be stopped.

UsTrini39
The ballad of O Wasa! my poor Wasa! continues on. Try you best, my Wasa, with Ganga Singh as u massa! Don't let the people suffer no more!

These financial figures are good to know, however there is the pressing issue of curbing the problem of water shortage next dry season which demands attention. WASA remains the number one water waster. Some 45 to 50-percent of all water that circulates through WASA's mains are lost to leaks, never usefully making its way to consumers. Where does WASA stand with respect to eliminating its leaking distribution system?
Is WASA now coordinating and cooperating with the Ministry of Works and Transport to minimize roadway destruction through poorly planned pipe laying, pipe repair works and disconnection of 'illegal' connections? What is the status of damp construction earmarked to alleviate flooding and to increase the nation's water stocks? How soon will WASA commence tapping into the ready available ground and surface water supply that drains off the Northern Range? This water is perfect for increasing water stocks and volume of supply at low cost. Is it WASA's intention to continue ignoring the existence of this resource?

There was no water in my pipeline in Palmiste, La Romain from January 12 to May 17,2010. After endless costly phone calls to St. Joseph & follow-up requests to San Fernando, I received weekly truck-borne supplies from WASA & sometimes from the regional corporation.
Was it not cheaper to turn on the stopcock for 2 or 3 days per week as they were doing in other parts of Palmiste? Did it not cost a fantastic amount of money to do exactly this to thousands of other homes for 4 months?

Remember people that there were tens of thousands of illegal connections, so while some were paying bills others were and still getting supplies for free. The worst is that WASA workers don't seem to care as reports go neglected. The amnesty was another drain because some people owed well over $10000 in rates, this plus the ridiculously high salaries for workers who sit and do nothing.

To start on a light note, I must mention how strange it is that WASA, an organization charged with the responsibility of distributing water, is facing serious "liquidity" problems.

On a more serious note however, we must ask ourselves how on earth does a company that has the monopoly in delivering a product that every one needs could find itself in such huge debt. To those who may know a little about investing, some of the safest stocks that one can invest in are utility stocks. Let's take WASA in its current configuration and ask ourselves if it was a publicly traded company trading on a stock exchange, and we were among the many investors who bought shares, what returns would we have been getting now and what would have been the value of our investment. We all know the answer- the shares may not have been worth the paper they were written on.

It seems that there is a notion that as long as something is state owned that it becomes a trough that feeds a few, while saddling the rest of the population with the bills for their upkeep.

Every one of us as citizens of Trinidad and Tobago is a stakeholder in WASA because we are the ones who end up footing the bill when there is mismanagement of our resources and in many cases; blatant abuse.

We must demand accountability from all those we entrust with our nation's resources. While this could become another topic for many to politicize, as indeed these companies are usually run by the political directorate, I believe issues such as this should not be boxed in by party loyalty as they affect our future and that of our children.

Every cent that is wasted could be funds channeled to areas that can affect the quality of lives of our citizens. When one thinks of the horrors that many of our elderly and underprivileged have to go through to access health care and other essential services while we have these so called spin doctors wasting monies, it really stinks.

How could WASA have spent all that money and recovered millions in water rates and there are no real improvements in pipe borne water?

How could this be! when the consumers of water, was charged for water which was not delivered on a regular basis and in most cases unfit to drink. While the management of W.A.S.A was enjoying the the wonderful lifestyle the company was going "BUST"