00:00Public Utilities Minister Marvin Gonzalez announced via Facebook post
00:04accompanied by two photos that he quote, had the opportunity to greet and engage
00:09in insightful conversations with Mr. Keith Roy Halliday, the incoming chief
00:14executive officer of WASA, end quote, at the 33rd Caribbean Water and Wastewater
00:19Conference and Exhibition at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Port of Spain.
00:23Minister Gonzalez said also present for the insightful conversations were Mark
00:29Barnett of the National Water Commission of Jamaica and former
00:33president of the CWWA and Mr. Alston Fournier, deputy chairman of WASA. During
00:40the budget debate in the House of Representatives on October 14th, Minister
00:44Gonzalez faced a question from opposition MP Rudranath Indarasinghe about
00:48a reduction in the cost of contract employment at WASA from $466.5
00:54million dollars in fiscal 2024 to an estimated $399.9 million dollars for
01:01fiscal 2025. We are currently restructuring and streamlining the
01:05executive leadership of the Water and Sewerage Authority and that we anticipate
01:10at the end of this exercise the Water and Sewerage Authority will not carry
01:14that huge bill of 66 or 399 million dollars annually for contract
01:20employment and thank you and that does not mean retrenchment in any way. TV6
01:26News is sent a question to the Public Utilities Minister on whether the
01:30incoming CEO of WASA indicated any areas of priority when he takes up the top
01:35executive job at the authority on December 1st during their discussion at
01:40the conference at the Hyatt Regency on Monday. Minister Gonzalez told TV6 News
01:45that both he and Mr. Halliday have agreed to keep their discussion in
01:49strict confidence in order to allow for a smooth transition of executive
01:54leadership in the coming months. Minister Gonzalez further said Mr. Halliday's
01:58area of key priority will be guided by his terms of engagement and the
02:03approved strategic plan of the Board of Commissioners of WASA. On August 30th
02:08WASA announced that Mr. Halliday who is from St. Kitts and Nevis will assume
02:13office as the new CEO of WASA on November 1st but recently stated his
02:18first day on the job would be on December 1st. WASA has said that Mr.
02:22Halliday is the former general manager of the Barbados Water Authority a
02:27position he held for the past seven years. On Monday in response to a
02:31question from TV6 News Minister Gonzalez said the incoming CEO is
02:36representing the Barbados Water Authority at the 33rd Caribbean Water
02:41and Wastewater Conference and Exhibition. Minister Gonzalez said the delegation he
02:46is leading is from WASA. The Public Utilities Minister told TV6 News that
02:50the conference is an annual one of regional ministers of government with
02:54responsibility for water and waste management, experts, policymakers in the
02:59sectors assessing the progress being made in the sectors emerging from
03:04previous meetings in the Bahamas and Guyana. The theme this year is a
03:09collective regional action towards a climate resilient water secured and
03:14zero water Caribbean. The Public Utilities Minister said senior officials
03:18from the IDB, CAF and the World Bank are also in attendance. Minister Gonzalez
03:24said that the feature speaker for the opening ceremony is acting Prime
03:27Minister Stuart Young. Jule Brown TV6 News
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