Response to letter to the editor published in Saturday’s Guardian Newspaper captioned: “Minister Gonzales: Water Every 9 days is Unacceptable.”
I wish to state from the onset that I am in full agreement with the author of the letter and, it is for that reason, I decided to appropriately respond to Councillor Shankar Teelucksingh in the way I did.
I am not one to respond to every public criticism because I accept that this is part of the political yoke of responsibility. However, as Minister, I will not allow anyone to create public mischief to suit their own narrow political agenda by deliberately concealing facts from the public in order to mislead them.
I will use this opportunity to clarify any statement I made to the media on this matter. I have always held the view that no community in our Republic should have a water supply of once every nine days. It is intolerable and that must be reversed. My public sentiments on this matter are all very consistent.
To support my position, the Ministry of Public Utilities and the Water and Sewerage Authority have designed critical projects targeting those communities to ensure that their water supply is at a minimum 24/3. That’s the lowest benchmark for all our ongoing projects from my standpoint.
As regards the Cedros and Icacos communities, it was brought to my attention that some areas in that service area (Granville) enjoy a 24/7 water supply whilst other areas in Cedros and Icacos get water once every nine days. Clearly, this is an example of an inequitable distribution of water. In response, WASA has made certain interventions to ensure a more equitable distribution of the resource in communities within this service zone targeting areas that receive water once every nine days. This is to ensure that their schedule can be improved to at least 24/3. This is consistent with what we are doing all over the country under our Community Water Improvement Programme and the Water Supply Improvement Plans (Regional Plans).
It appears that this intervention has troubled Councillor Teelucksingh tremendously to the extent now that he has embarked upon a campaign of attacking some managers and the Member of Parliament who are working towards a more equitable distribution of water for the people of Cedros and Icacos who have suffered with a water supply of one in nine days for years.
We will not be distracted by the goodly councillor. We will continue our work to ensure that every citizen and every community have access to clean potable water in a fair and equitable environment. Whilst we do that, we will not allow the likes of councillor Teelucksingh to lie and mislead the citizens.
Minister of Public Utilities
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