Caption: Marvin Gonzales

Summary

• Opposition Chief Whip Marvin Gonzales claims WASA hired 420 people between April 29 and November 2025, costing about $70 million a year in salaries.
• He said Public Utilities Minister Barry Padarath missed a parliamentary deadline and later provided incomplete details, omitting names and recruitment criteria.
• Gonzales also alleged further hiring pushed the total to 500–600 and claimed some applicants paid $5,000–$10,000 for jobs; Padarath did not respond to requests for comment.

 

By Alicia Chamely

BETWEEN April 29 and November 2025, 420 people were hired at the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA), costing taxpayers about $70 million per year in salaries, Opposition Chief Whip Marvin Gonzales has claimed.

Speaking at an Opposition press conference on Thursday at the Office of the Opposition Leader in Port of Spain, Gonzales said that in November last year he asked Public Utilities Minister Barry Padarath—via Questions for Written Reply in Parliament—to provide details on WASA’s hiring practices.

Gonzales said he requested the number of people employed by WASA between April 29 and November 2025, along with their names, salaries and the recruitment criteria used.

He said Padarath was required to respond by December 25, 2025, but missed the deadline. Gonzales said the minister later provided some information, but that the employees’ names and recruitment criteria were not included.

Gonzales claimed his request caught both the ministry and WASA’s board by surprise.

“The board was taken by surprise because when the question was asked of WASA management—‘How many persons were employed between April 29 and November 2025?’—the information that came to us, and now to you, the people of Trinidad and Tobago, is that WASA employed 420 people,” he said.

Gonzales also raised questions about positions and salaries.

“When I look at some of the figures: the Director of Customer Care is getting $60,000 a month; the Director of Human Resources, $60,000 a month; the Director of Operations, $60,000 a month. Head of organisational effectiveness—what is a head of organisational effectiveness? Then what is the role of the CEO? He is getting $45,000 a month, or she—I don’t know if it is a man or woman,” he said.

He also referred to “Senior programme leader” positions paying $45,000 a month, and claimed there were six such posts, for a combined monthly cost of $270,000. Gonzales said the overall wage bill from the hires was “close to $70 million.”

Gonzales noted that on May 15, 2025, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar publicly tore up a copy of the previous administration’s WASA Transformation Plan, saying her government would make changes to WASA’s management structure that would save $30 million annually.

He claimed the Opposition had argued that the scrapped plan would have saved WASA $50 million annually.

Gonzales further alleged that additional hiring took place after November, bringing the total number of new employees to “over 500 to 600.”

“You can run, but you cannot hide,” he said. “The information that has come to me is that as of December last year, there are over 500 to 600 persons that were employed in the Water and Sewerage Authority, costing you, the taxpayers of this country, over $70 million.”

He accused the Prime Minister of misleading the public on savings. “She appeared before … ripping apart a WASA Transformation Plan, saying that is going to save you, the taxpayers, $30 million, and they are now riding the taxpayers’ backs … with an increased salary tag of over $70 million,” he said.

Gonzales also alleged that some people paid to obtain jobs at WASA.

“The information reaching me and the opposition is that some of those persons that were employed in the Water and Sewerage Authority had to pay $5,000 to $10,000 to be employed within the organisation,” he said.

He described the situation as “a breakdown of governance in the state sector.”

Calls and messages sent to Padarath for comment were not answered.