PRINCES Town MP Barry Padarath is calling for an immediate review of all WASA mains, pipelines, substations and pumps.
In a release on Friday, he said the government should have foreseen these issues given the age of the infrastructure but as always, it is too little, too late with this Rowley regime.
He said budget cuts in a critical area such as repairs and maintenance for these aged infrastructure is wreaking havoc among the population.
Padarath said WASA saw their budget in this line item cut by $350 million in 2021 and $250 million in 2022.
The release stated, “ For the last two years, Padarath has been raising the issue of aging infrastructure and the lack of maintenance both inside and outside of the Parliament and he finds no pleasure in having his warnings come to pass, as the citizens are the only persons feeling the pain of this government’s failure to plan effectively.”
Padarath called on WASA to tell the country what mechanisms were in place to monitor these things, noting that in the case of one repair, it requires land to be cleared to access the infrastructure.
That’s what the Government has been saying for years now. The country needs to do a complete overhaul of the pipes throughout the country.
What people don’t understand is, that as a developing nation, we had been well advanced of many countries around the world as far as pipe-born water are concerned.
We had the pipes instead many years before others, hence they have outlived their usefulness.
The issue now, is the huge cost attached and as we know, the citizens never want to pay for improvements, but always want improvements.