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CCNTV6
  • 10 months ago
Chief Secretary Farley Augustine believes the water situation in Tobago is being politicised. His comments come following the sod turning ceremony on Wednesday for the construction of the Goldsborough Water Treatment Plant.
Transcript
00:00Do you think the situation is politicized?
00:02Well, the situation is always politicized.
00:06When you have a THA Act that lists public utilities
00:10as a fixed schedule item,
00:12and then you have a state agency
00:14that does not report to you at all
00:17to do the delivery of said public utility,
00:20and then you are on island,
00:21and then you just see by the way that they open and well,
00:24or by the way that they're doing some new project,
00:28and you are not consulted, you're not in the room,
00:31you're not able to express
00:33what the people you represent want,
00:35and let that help to impact the policies
00:38that WASA actually is making.
00:42Then the politics, of course,
00:43becomes a challenge in that regard.
00:45And see, all of this boils back to the whole question
00:47of Tobago's autonomy
00:49and what we really should be in charge of as an island.
00:52Mr. Augustine spoke on Thursday
00:54following the recommissioning
00:56of the Kendal Aquatic Facility.
00:58He said some communities in Tobago
01:00lack a basic steady water supply.
01:03We have communities like Charlottesville.
01:05If you go to Bel-Air and Top River in Charlottesville,
01:09those are communities that have not had,
01:11in some people's homes,
01:13pipe-borne water for well over two, three years.
01:17And that has become almost normal.
01:19And in that area, they use an informal system
01:22to collect water from on the top of the hill
01:24that's not part of WASA program.
01:27The community came together and did their own system.
01:30And then, I'm not sure if you remember,
01:32some time ago, the villagers in Castara
01:35protested and sort of blocked the road earlier morning.
01:38And some people were saying,
01:39well, the chief secretary representing you
01:40are not getting water.
01:42The chief secretary's fault.
01:42When the truth is,
01:44the chief secretary doesn't really control
01:46the policies within WASA.
01:48So clearly, there is a need for some harmonization
01:50with what the island needs.
01:52Mixed views from some residents in Tobago
01:55about their water supply.
01:57How is your water supply at this time?
02:00Right about now, well,
02:02we are accustomed getting water occasionally,
02:04but right about now, it's been bad.
02:10And as you can see, no water.
02:17And sometime when it come back, it come back brown.
02:19What's your water supply is like?
02:20This morning, when I wake up,
02:22the pressure was very heavy.
02:25And then when I do some, right now, it gone.
02:29How regular is your water supply?
02:32Well, I don't really get water,
02:34but a good time, it didn't go away, you know?
02:37Sometime it come back same day.
02:39Sometime it take three days to come back.
02:42How is your water supply at this time?
02:44It's excellent.
02:46Always.
02:47In this area, we always get a good supply of water every day.
02:51The water supply here right now is pretty good.
02:54Right now, we don't want to let you down.
02:57That's how it's all for me.
03:00One minute you have good flow, next minute it gone.
03:04But you're happy with your water supply so far?
03:06So far, yeah.
03:07Elizabeth Williams, TV6 News.
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