Caption: Marvin Gonzales. Photo: T&T Parliament
By Alicia Chamely
FORMER Minister of Public Utilities Marvin Gonzales is expressing concern over the actions taking place at the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA), calling them corrupt and partisan.
In a statement sent on Wednesday titled “Scandalous and Repulsive Political Purging at WASA,” Gonzales said, “Today, the country has seen the dismantling of the Authority not in the public’s interest but for narrow partisan and corrupt interests.”
Gonzales took issue with the termination of WASA CEO Keithroy Halliday, and what he described as the “character assassination of Halliday by current Public Utilities Minister Barry Padarath.
He said, “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”.
Gonzales said not only was this disrespectful, but contrary to what Padarath had said Halliday was extremely qualified, having successfully transformed the Barbados Water Authority (BWA) “into a zero-budget entity covering all operational costs without recourse to recurrent funding across a four‑year period.”
Steering away from Halliday, Gozales accused the government of by-passing transparent recruitment process and hand-picking members of the new executive board of WASA.
Focusing on the government’s newly appointed board members, he said, “These include Jeevan Joseph and Krishna Persadsingh, neither of whom went through any transparent recruitment process, and others with questionable credentials, some alleged to have engaged in corrupt practices for securing contracts in the past.”
He added, “I have been reliably informed by WASA sources that persons previously suspended for shady dealings are returning. Mr. Joseph and Mr. Persadsingh, former junior staffers, are now being elevated over qualified, experienced executives.”
Gonzales further accused the government of victimising qualified professionals who are not aligned with the United National Congress (UNC).
He said, “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.”
A direct result of this, he added, was turning WASA into “a politicised, inefficient state entity where procurement is based on political connections, without value-for-money, transparency, or improved service delivery to citizens.”
Gonzales further took issue with the government’s decision to dismantle the “smart water agenda,” which he piloted during his tenure.
He said, “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.”
Regarding the current happenings at WASA, Gonzales stated, “This Government has now 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.”
He added, “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.”
Gonzales ended his statement taking a jab at the government’s election slogan, “When UNC wins, Only UNC wins!”
Contacted by the media after his termination, Halliday hinted at taking legal action against the government and said he will talk more on the topic at an appropriate time.
Responding to the criticism of Halliday’s removal as WASA CEO, Padarath was quoted saying, “I gave him a fair chance, I gave him an ear but… a man who was brought in to head the transformation plan, he was there for six months and the very first question I asked, can you tell me what is your perspective on the transformation plan and during that conversation, Mr Halliday, and this is where it became disturbing to me, that after six months in the position, he admitted to me that he never saw or read the transformation once.”
Padarath said he found this extremely troubling, adding, “That to me told the entire tale of this entire transformation plan. It was mind-boggling that he had been there for six months and had never, even once, asked for a copy of the transformation plan until I asked him about it.”
