Minister of the Environment and Water Resources Ganga Singh has challenged Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley to engage in an open and transparent debate regarding the achievements of the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) during the last five years.
Issuing the invitation during the launch of the first-ever integrated water resources management research symposium at the University of the West Indies Inn and Conference Centre, St Augustine, on Wednesday, Singh said he was “fed up” of Rowley’s snide comments and insinuations that WASA was not performing.
Pressed to elaborate about what had prompted him to extend the challenge, Singh later explained: “I know it is the season for political snipers but I want to invite him or his shadow minister or anyone so designated to an open debate on the issues, challenges and the solutions regarding potable water in this country and its sustainability.”
He added: “I am fed up of his sniping from behind. I want him to come out in the open, have a debate that is transparent and open for questioning, and that is the subject of public scrutiny regarding the water challenges in this country.”
On Tuesday Rowley said he was ready to debate with Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissesar, once the Debates Commission had “gotten its house in order.”
Delivering the feature address on Wednesday, Singh spoke of WASA’s thrust to improve the water supply to citizens across both islands.
Applauding WASA’s acting chief executive officer’s claim that by the end of the calendar year WASA would be providing a continuous water supply to 85 per cent of the population, Singh said at this time 73 per cent of persons were receiving a 24-hour supply.
Highlighting the gravity of the situation which they had inherited from the previous administration, Singh accused the People’s National Movement of ignoring citizens’ cries for a continuous water supply as he revealed that in 2010, only 18 per cent of the population had been receiving a supply after eight years under that party.
He again trained his guns on Rowley, as he said: “Let us meet, let us debate and don’t run from this too.”
Asked to say exactly how much WASA had spent during the past five years on various projects aimed at improving the water supply nationally, Singh said up to June 2015, approximately $1.9 billion had been spent on 1,400 projects.
Stressing that all transactions were above board, Singh boasted: “We can itemise that project by project.”
Promising to continue the good work once the People’s Partnership was selected for a second term, Singh said they had also raised the qualification levels for all persons employed at WASA’s labs to ensure quality assurance, transparency and accountability.
Boasting that T&T was the leader in innovation, Singh briefly touched on the bedrock drilling project which was done in Tobago in the late 1990s; the installation of a well at Crowne Point in Tobago, which produces 500,000 gallons of water a day; the plan to erect another well which is expected to add another 1.3 million gallons of water a day to that system; the construction of the Mamoral dam; the Desalcott operations which has resulted in 44 million gallons a day of water being added to the local water supply; and the Clearwater Gardens Project which is underway at Beetham Gardens.