Tag Archives: WASA

“You never want a serious crisis to go to waste. And what I mean by that is an opportunity to do things that you think you could not do before,” Rahm Emanuel, (2008). The context for that quote—which is really a riff off one made by Paul Romer, who in …

“What is your miracle wish for WASA?” I once asked a former Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) CEO. “To convert my consumers into customers,” was the response. More than 15 years later, another well-wisher bites the dust because of his desire to do the same thing. Both instances occurred under …

Robert Le Hunte’s shock resignation as minister of public utilities allegedly followed a row with Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley over a proposal for major restructuring at WASA. Although, according to informed sources, the quarrel was one-way traffic. Le Hunte, who is also deputy chair of Rowley’s post-Covid-19 economy recovery team, …

“So the logical question is: why don’t our governments fix the state enterprise governance system? The answer is partly because it sustains political patronage and corruption, partly because it buys off the trade unions, and partly because of inertia—fixing things that don’t appear to be broken simply isn’t worth the …

FC Santa Rosa captain Keron Clarke could be nearing a dream senior international debut for Trinidad and Tobago after being promised a new passport on Monday morning. The 31-year-old forward, who competes in the second tier Trinidad and Tobago Super League (TTSL) competition, was called up by Soca Warriors head …

If you happen to be one of the few who still don’t acknowledge the role social media play in today’s world, you are one of the lucky citizens of this nation who did not look on helplessly as yet another one of us was treated with the official contempt and …

I recall some of the many fights I got into as a child growing up in the early 1960s in what was once considered “the country.” Many of these fights occurred near the “standpipe” where we fought over whose turn it was to full our buckets and pitch-oil tins. Those …

Part One of my look into State boards prompted a series of extremely interesting responses, so I will continue this examination of the State Controlled Agencies. This term includes State-owned Enterprises (SoEs) such as UDECOTT, Caribbean Airlines and Education Facilities Company Limited (EFCL), as well as Statutory Agencies like WASA, TTEC, CDA, …

The recent controversy over the dismissal of Dennise Demming as Chair of the Tourism Development Company (TDC) has sparked yet another round of debate on the role and operation of State-owned Enterprises (SoEs). Some of the issues which have arisen are: •What is the purpose of these SoEs? •How do …

A recent World Bank report ranked Trinidad and Tobago as the country that generates the most “municipal solid waste”, on a per capita basis, in the world. Every man, woman and child in this country, on average, every day, generates—according to the World Bank data—a mind-boggling 14.4 kilograms of garbage. …

More than half of WASA’s 4,800 staff faces the possibility of retrenchment after Public Utilities Minister Emmanuel “Hurricane” George admitted that workforce reduction is expected in restructuring. Or, as far as Trinidad Express is concerned, blah, blah, blah—seventy five percent of the Express website today was dedicated to TV6 Crime …

WASA, which was formed by an Act of Parliament in 1965, still doesn’t know what it is doing and will pay a Spanish consultancy firm $5.2 million for four months of recommendations. Wired868 expects the first recommendation to be: Get someone to fix your problems, not talk about them.