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  • 2 years ago
The Executive Director of the Inter-American Development Bank says an 80 million US dollar loan facility from the IDB for the National Water Sector Transformation Plan is being made available to this country.
The plan will eventually cost 2.26 billion TT dollars.

Meanwhile, the Public Utilities Minister says projects for the improvement of the supply of water under the plan are not because a General Election is due next year.

Juhel Browne reports.
Transcript
00:00It is only the uninitiated could sound like that. People who never even run a
00:05parlor, who really believe that the IDB will give you 80 million US dollars and
00:10you just have it sitting down in the bank account and you wouldn't even start
00:13to drill a well. Public Utilities Minister Marvin Gonzalez speaking about
00:17his political opponents before the ceremonial signing of the National Water
00:22Sector Transformation Plan, a signing that involved the IDB, the Inter-American
00:28Development Bank and NIPDEC, the Trinidad and Tobago state-owned National
00:33Insurance Property Development Company Limited. And the Minister Gonzalez
00:37wanted to clarify one thing about the plan where the general election due in
00:422025 is concerned. So all of the contractors who have been successful in
00:50being awarded contracts under this program, I want to let you know that your
00:55feet are going to be held to the fire. We are not going to be taking any on-due
00:59delays in any one of these projects. We have an election, I have an election to
01:04win. Next day please God. And therefore before any election is called in
01:12Trinidad and Tobago, I don't want nobody telling me that the reason why we are
01:17not getting water is because there is an election. Because that is not so.
01:21Minister Gonzalez said the projects require three years of hard work. Look at
01:26the projects that we are undertaking. Plenty of them is in non-PNM
01:30constituencies. But you have human beings, they are citizens. I want to salute every
01:36single worker within the Water and Sewerage Authority including Mr. Ravi
01:41Nanga, Senior Counsel. For the great work you and your board would have done.
01:49Minister Gonzalez also thanked the former Public Utilities Minister Robert
01:53Lahunt, the current Executive Director of the IDB, who also spoke at the
01:58ceremonial signing ceremony. There is no silver bullet for fixing the water
02:05system in Trinidad and Tobago. And two, there is very little, if anything, that
02:14you could do without money. You see, fixing the water problem requires a
02:19holistic plan that comprehensively addresses all facets of the system. The
02:25IDB's Executive Director said that includes effective management systems as
02:31he explained the full extent of the bank's conditional line of credit for
02:36the National Water Sector Transformation Plan. Much could be achieved with this
02:41first tranche of US $80 million. And we have made available a total envelope of
02:49$315 million or $2.26 billion available to the country for the
02:57execution of the plan as and when the country needs the funds. The Public
03:03Utilities Minister said that the Finance Ministry will also make funding
03:07available to WASA for the improved supply of water. Over the last three
03:12years, WASA would have been able to successfully complete over 75 projects
03:18under the Community Water Improvement Program, bringing water for the very
03:21first time to several communities all over Trinidad and Tobago. The Public
03:26Utilities Minister said the Ministry is ready for another round of
03:30conversations with the IDB with regard to the National Water Sector
03:34Transformation Plan but made no mention about the plan for the restructuring of
03:40WASA. Jule Brown, TV6 News.
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