Public Utilities Minister Barry Padarath has slammed the former People’s National Movement (PNM) administration’s handling of the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA), calling out their transformation plan and appointment of Keithroy Halliday, whom he described as a “failed CEO from Barbados,” to helm the agency. He defended the Government’s decision to scrap the transformation plan, saying it cost the taxpayer $13.4 million and would have sent home 2,500 workers.
Padarath delivered the scathing attack during his contribution on the motion to adopt the report of the Standing Finance Committee on Monday night.
“They brought in a failed CEO from Barbados who had very little track record in terms of change management, in terms of changing out the authority. Instead, they were looking to pass the buck on to somebody else for why the transformation plan would have failed, because there was no political will to get it done,” Padarath said.
He criticised the PNM for using taxpayer dollars on the plan, noting it cost millions of in taxpayer funds to develop and would have threatened around 2,500 WASA employees had the PNM remained in power after the April 28 General Election.
“The plan alone costed taxpayers 13.4 million dollars. Hear what were the main recommendations Mr Speaker, 1,500 monthly paid jobs to be made redundant. They were going home Mr Speaker, 1,200 daily paid workers made redundant. They were going home, and this was just in the first instance, taking you to about 2,500 workers from WASA going home in the first instance.”
Padarath said a review of the transformation plan revealed that $1.8 million was paid to the head of transformation but no targets were set by WASA.
He also claimed significant sums were paid to a consultant, while over $1m was paid to members of a legal team for work done in the last year.
Halliday, a St Kitts Nevis national, was announced as WASA CEO on August 30, 2024 but formally assumed office on December 1, 2024, after a one-month deferral. Halliday had previously been serving as general manager of the Barbados Water Authority (BWA). He was credited with transforming the BWA into a “zero-budget entity” during his tenure there.
Guardian Media reached out to Halliday for a response to Padarath’s claim about him but there was no response from him up to press time.
Padarath had previously dismissed allegations of political interference at WASA, following claims that he was overstepping his office by assigning junior staffers to oversee Halliday’s work.
Former Public Utilities minister Marvin Gonzales made the allegation, naming Jevan Joseph and Krishna Persadsingh as the two individuals allegedly acting on the minister’s behalf at WASA.
However, Padarath described this claim as baseless, insisting Halliday reported directly to him while the authority was awaiting the appointment of a new board. The board was eventually appointed on June 5.
During his contribution, Padarath questioned the composition of the WASA transformation management team.
“What was very strange was the names of the legal team, Russell Martineau SC, which the member for Baratria/San Juan spoke about, so member, this is more than the one billion you spoke about but then you have the first gentleman Kerwin Garcia, who was probably spreading the gospel in WASA as well.”
He also accused the former PNM administration of awarding $25 million in contracts at WASA to an individual who also allegedly served as a campaign manager for the PNM in the Arouca/Lopinot constituency.
He claimed among the contracts was a $3 million sole-select award approved days before the General Election.
“There was a setting up of a transformation office. I then asked where is this office? Is it at WASA? Nobody could tell me where this office is. Later, I found out that they leased an office on Scott-Bushe Street for 3 million dollars for five people to operate out of. When I started to ask the questions, I got two resignations.”
Padarath said he had already sent a file on their findings to the Office of the Attorney General to determine if further action could be taken.
The WASA plan implemented by the former administration sought to address the long-standing issues of inefficiency, poor service delivery, and financial constraints within the authority through a comprehensive approach that included management restructuring, infrastructure upgrades, and improved water resource management.
During his contribution, former Public Utilities minister Marvin Gonzales cautioned Government’s handling of WASA, which he claimed could jeopardise access to foreign funding for projects.
“At the end of the day, they will make not one cent available for you if you cannot show if you have a viable transformation plan to improve the water supply. It is hinged on that. So, when you rip it, you don’t just rip a document, but you rip work that was done not by politicians, but work done by technocrats within the industry and stakeholders in the industry that has the potential to transcend race, religion, geography, and politics.”