00:00I filed those questions in November last year.
00:05So the question was for a period from April the 29th to November 2025.
00:11And as of November, it was 426 persons that were recruited inside of the organization.
00:19The information I have is that it is upwards of 500 persons that were employed, that are employed in the organization from the elections of April the 28th.
00:33Former Public Utilities Minister Marvin Gonzalez is calling on the government to explain mass hirings at WASA,
00:40an entity which the former PNM administration had labeled top-heavy and had earmarked for restructuring to save an estimated $50 million annually.
00:52Head procurement, 45, perhaps it might be a ghost.
00:58Head workforce optimization, $45,000 a month.
01:02Senior program leader, $45,000 a month.
01:06And given the amount of program leader, it is not just 45, it is six of them, they are employed in WASA.
01:13Six program leader, each of them getting $45,000 a month with a monthly tag of $270,000.
01:24The total wage bill has gone up to close to $70 million inside of WASA.
01:32The former minister also made some concerning claims.
01:35Last week, the director of HR was escorted out of the compound.
01:42The information reaching me and the opposition is that some of those persons that were employed in the Water and Sewage Authority
01:49had to pay $5,000 and $10,000 to be employed within the organization.
01:58$5,000 or $10,000 to people within the management of WASA.
02:02While Public Utilities Minister Barit Poddarath is dismissing the allegations as blatant lies.
02:08I have said to him that if he has any information or evidence, he should take it to the authorities.
02:15That is where those allegations should be made and directed to the authorities.
02:19Mr. Gibson was a former employee of WASA.
02:24He retired and he was brought on on a month-to-month basis, as this with HR matters, seeing that the company was in an HR crisis.
02:33Since then, it has expired and he has chosen to resign.
02:38And as it concerns the new hires at WASA, Minister Barit Poddarath puts the number squarely at 452.
02:46The situation at WASA from 2015 to 2025 was one in which there were a number of vacancies there in the organization.
02:56When I went in as Minister of Public Utilities, what we decided to do was to ensure that we look from within the organization and from without
03:04to promote persons into positions that were vacant.
03:08That then left lower-level positions open.
03:13A number of the persons who have been hired at WASA have been done so on a short-term basis.
03:19Poddarath says WASA's executive has been whittled down from 35 to a mere 8 persons.
03:26Renasa Cutting, TV6 News.
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