ACTING Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) CEO Kelvin Romain has said he is interested in serving in the position permanently.
He spoke at a news conference at the Desalination Company of TT's (Desalcott) office in Point Lisas on Monday.
The conference was held to update the public about the planned shutdown of Desalcott's Point Lisas plant from October 16-24.
During a meeting of the Standing Finance Committee of the House of Representatives on October 13, Public Utilities Minister Marvin Gonzales said Government is expecting progress on restructuring WASA and is awaiting updates from the authority's board of commissioners.
"It is believed that in 2024, a lot of strides and progress will be made."
He reminded MPs that WASA's board is responsible for implementing the restructuring.
Gonzales did not want to speculate on how that would proceed.
Last July, at a news conference at his office in Port of Spain, Gonzales said Cabinet had approved a transformational plan for WASA.
Gonzales said the report of a Cabinet subcommittee laid in Parliament found a past allocation of $2 billion to the authority did not result in any transformation. The report predicted the further decline of WASA if the status quo remained.
Asked whether he hopes still to be CEO when WASA's restructuring is complete, Romain replied, "All I could say is that I applied for the job."
He was unable to give any details of what the restructuring would involve.
"I fall within that restructuring."
Romain hinted that the first place where restructuring could happen at WASA "is at the executive level."
He estimated that the total staff at WASA, including executives, is approximately 4,600 people. Romain said there is no specific number on the table for the total workforce at a restructured WASA.
"Assessments are being made."
Romain said because WASA's facilities are mostly manual, it needs a large labour force to operate and maintain them. He hinted that a greater use of technology could change that scenario.
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