Chief executive officer of the Water and Sewage Authority (WASA) Allan Poon King is urging customers to brace themselves for more water restrictions if the dry season continues and water restrictions will remain in effect.
Already there are water schedules in parts of Trinidad and if the harsh dry season continues then Poon King said the authority will be forced to schedule pipe borne water to two days in some areas.
Poon King was speaking to the media at a tour of the at Hollis Reservoir, Valencia yesterday.
He said the present water level at Hollis Reservoir has dropped to 40 per cent as of yesterday and keeps dropping.
At Hollis Reservoir, Poon King showed the media how the reservoir is no where near the level where it niormally reaches when the dam is filled, which, he said, is of serious concern.
Hollis Reservoir services a large part of Trinidad with pipe borne water.
Areas serviced by the Reservoir include KP lands, La Platta, Silica Sands, Cocorite Road, from Broadway to Henry Street, O’Meara Road, the town of Arima from the Priority Bus Route to Broadway, Arima Old Road from King Street to Cleaver Road, Malabar Phase 11, Samaroo Village, Darwill Gardens, Galaxy Gardens, Mausica Road, Pine Haven Development, La Resource North, Bon Air Gardens, Bon Air West, Lopinot Road and Arouca.
Poon King added that if the dry season continues WASA will have no other choice but to reduce the supply of water to these areas.
Asked if water finishes at Hollis Reservoir what will happen, Poon King said this will not happen as he assured WASA will do what it has to do to conserve water.
The increase and decrease in water to customers is determined by the Met Office and WASA Water Resource management.
Poon King said there is no room for improvement at Hollis Dam and water supplies simply have to be managed.
According to Poon King, a major area of concern for WASA is in south Trinidad. He said WASA is making every effort to have a water supply to the customers in the southern areas.
In light of recent reports that trucks were charging consumers to deliver water, Poon King advised all customers not to pay any money for truck borne water.
He said if they have no water they should call the WASA hotlines.
Poon King said over the last two weeks two persons have been charged with breaching water restriction regulations, but he lamented that the fee of $75.00 is too small a fine and is not a deterrent.
Presently, Poon King said, there is proposal before Cabinet for an increase in fines for people who fail to abide with WASA restrictions on conserving water especially in the dry season. The quantum of the increase in the fine is not up to WASA but the Cabinet he said.
He also acknowledged that WASA has 27,000 leaks and of those he said they have repaired just under half of them, 13,095 leaks and repairs are continuing
Poon King made it clear that water restrictions will not cease immediately.
