- NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - 26/Jun 05:35

Gonzales: WASA dismantling partisan, corrupt

Former public utilities minister Marvin Gonzales says he is deeply concerned at the way the government is dismantling key pillars of the Water and Sewerage Authority’s (WASA) transformation for what he describes as narrow partisan and corrupt interests. In a statement under the letterhead of the Leader of the Opposition on June 25, Gonzales, the Opposition Chief Whip, said the dismantling of the authority which happened that day was done with little regard for merit, process or the public interest. He said WASA and the public deserved better than a political purge. “A utility cannot thrive under cronyism, especially one with such national importance. We must preserve the integrity of public service, defend meritocratic processes, and safeguard national investments in water infrastructure and digital modernisation.” “This country’s interests have once again been sacrificed on the altar of wicked and malicious politics in true UNC fashion. "Taxpayers will now have to foot the millions in legal bills that will certainly follow due to this capricious behaviour of the board of commissioners.” He said he was concerned with the character assassination of former CEO Keithroy Halliday by Public Utilities Minister Barry Padarath. “On June 24, Minister Barry Padarath, cowardly hiding under the cover of parliamentary privilege, branded the now fired CEO of WASA – a proven and well-respected professional who was recruited through a transparent process – as a ‘failed CEO from Barbados.’ "Such language is not only reckless, it is misinformed, disrespectful and deeply unbecoming of the office of a senior minister of government.” Gonzales went over the details of Halliday’s appointment, reminding that he ranked highest among a regional field of candidates after a rigorous and transparent recruitment process, and he received his appointment on December 1, 2024. Gonzales said during Halliday’s seven-year tenure as chief executive/general manager of the Barbados Water Authority (BWA), he transformed that institution into a zero-budget entity covering all operational costs without recourse to recurrent funding across a four‑year period. “He successfully guided the BWA through crises, secured Green Climate Fund grants for climate resilience, and instilled financial discipline and operational excellence. These are precisely the qualities required to rescue WASA from decades of under-performance.” Gonzales said the reassignments and restructuring on June 15 rewarded cronies, not competence. “It is now a matter of public record that the government through its board of commissioners at WASA has abolished the executive leadership, recruited under an extensive transparent process, now replacing them with hand-picked individuals. “These include Jeevan Joseph and Krishna Persadsingh, neither of whom went through any transparent recruitment process, and others with questionable credentials. Mr Joseph and Mr Persadsingh, former junior staffers, are now being elevated over qualified, experienced executives. “Many are retirees, brought back without demonstrable capacity to drive digital transformation, sound governance or proven experience in executive leadership of a water utility company.” He said the UNC government and its board of commissioners should “hold their heads in collective shame as they have embarrassed this country regionally and internationally, and damaged the reputation that the last government painstakingly endured to rebrand WASA and the local water sector.” He said the government had done irreversible damage to the reputation of WASA, and the local water sector, by “this most egregious act of terror on executives duly hired to steer a much-needed transformation." Gonzales warned of the dangers of dismantling the smart-water agenda which had been developed under his tenure as minister. “WASA was on the cusp of becoming a smart‑water utility, a data-driven operator with real-time leak detection, digital job management systems, remote dashboards, and human‑centric reform that improved efficiency without layoffs. All of this is now being scrapped by this government with no replacement plan, putting completed infrastructure projects, and hundreds of technical jobs, at risk.” He said competent professionals not aligned with the UNC were being victimised. “Technocrats are being targeted because of their democratic right to support a political party of their choice, while the UNC installs friends and allies with little regard for qualifications and competence. "Such actions threaten to return WASA to a politicised, inefficient state entity where procurement is based on political connections, without value-for-money, transparency, or improved service delivery to citizens.” The post Gonzales: WASA dismantling partisan, corrupt appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.