By Sue-Ann Wayow
MEMBER of Parliament for Princes Town Barry Padarath is calling for a full review and assessment of the electricity and water infrastructure at all public health institutions.
He made the call on Tuesday following reports of a blackout at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex (Mt Hope) on Monday night in which patients had to be evacuated out to other health facilities.
He also called on Minister of Public Utilities Marvin Gonzales to speak out about that issue as well as the situation with the water main pipeline that imploded at the Caroni Water Treatment plant.
The Opposition’s Shadow Minister of Public Utilities in a news release on Tuesday said he received news late on Monday night of the alarming situation at the Mt Hope Hospital.
The MP further stated that due to aging infrastructure and no maintenance of the electrical system at Mt Hope, several parts of the hospital were forced to work on generators up to the time of the release.
“This was an unacceptable and untenable situation,” Padarath said.
“The Minister must provide leadership, clarity and solutions to these challenges that have disrupted the lives and livelihoods of thousands of citizens,” the release stated.
Padarath also commented that while the government was “unashamedly intent on imposing higher water and electricity rates right after the local government election,” citizens were at their wits end in an effort to receive a reliable supply of water while the hospital had no reliable supply of electricity.
Since the pipeline at the Caroni Water Treatment Plant imploded last week, officials from the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) have been engaging with the public on the issue via mainstream and social media.
WASA’s Chairman Ravindra Nanga gave further details via video over the weekend.
Nanga said by the end of this week, all communities affected by the disruption should receive their normal supply of water.
