Minister of Public Utilities Marvin Gonzales, during his first year in government, has had to oversee one of the country's most significant ministries and the age-old problems surrounding it.
His maiden voyage has not been without its challenges. but overall, he has said he is proud of the work he has accomplished and looks optimistically to the fiscal year ahead.
In a candid interview with Newsday on Tuesday, Gonzales shared the highlights and pitfalls of the utility sector he oversees – especially the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) – and his concerns about TT's water deficit.
He also shared his vision of a more recycling-oriented national community and the steps the ministry is taking towards an eco-friendly future.
“It was a shocker,” said Marvin Gonzales with a laugh when asked about diving into the workload of the ministry he inherited. He was appointed minister on August 19, 2020.
He said he felt the weight of the responsibility he carried within the first month on the job.
“The importance of the utilities sector in Trinidad and Tobago was indeed a shocker for me, but I am at my best when I am faced with challenges. I love challenges.
“What is comforting to me is that the ministry has on board a team of competent specialists to work with me, as a young minister, to move the agenda forward, and that is why in one year we were able to put together different strategies.”
Gonzales laid the report of a Cabinet sub-committee – assigned to investigate WASA in August 2020 – in Parliament on March 6. Among its list of offences, Gonzales said rampant corruption was found to have led to the authority’s dysfunctional management.
“What I have discovered, even after I disclosed the report of the sub-committee to look into WASA...is the state of WASA's infrastructure, it being in a very derelict state,” he said on Tuesday. “It is in a state of disrepair, and it will require large sums of money to upgrade the infrastructure to maintain the reliability of water (supply).”
This has been a perennial lament.
Gonzales said when an area experiences supply disruptions, it is rarely because of not having water in the ground, but the result of poor infrastructure.
[caption id="attachment_932701" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Minister of Public Utilities Marvin Gonzales speaks with Newsday at his office, One Alexandra Place, St Clair, Port of Spain, last Tuesday. File photo/Angelo Marcelle[/caption]
“It takes a lot of pumping to get (low-level) water in high-level communities. Those pumps have to be working 24/7 – without proper (preventative) maintenance programmes in place, which WASA does not have. On a given day WASA is really reacting to the disruption and not taking proactive measures to prevent it from taking place.”
Gonzales said he prefers a hands-on approach to the management of his ministry.
“I like to go out in the field and see things for myself. I certainly don’t trust what is reported to me, because often times they try to hide the reality.”
Gonzales said the main focus of the
