00:00A war of words is brewing over WASA's water trucking program, with Public Utilities Minister Barry Podarath challenging former Minister
00:08Marvin Gonzalez to answer questions about what he says occurred under the previous administration.
00:14Gonzalez has raised concerns about alleged racketeering in the program and questioned the increasing in funding for water trucking services,
00:22but Podarath insists measures have been introduced to prevent such practices.
00:27Well, I can say categorically it is not taking place right now because the necessary steps when we established a
00:34water trucking service, we recall that there were challenges with it under the former administration.
00:39And therefore, we put an oversight component inside of WASA to ensure on a rotational basis you did not have
00:46the same persons in terms of guarding the guards.
00:49So therefore, we have put the necessary steps and mechanisms in place to avoid that.
00:54The minister says the government is preparing to disclose further details during the budget debate, pointing to an Ernest &
01:00Young report which he claims raises questions about contractors and the invoicing process.
01:06Podarath also accuses the former administration of focusing on WASA employees rather than addressing alleged problems involving major service providers.
01:15What is contained inside of the report has to do with service providers.
01:20I think the former minister spends a lot of time demonizing WASA workers in an effort to corroborate and substantiate
01:29the major changes that they were going to make in terms of HR changes by sending home employees under WASA
01:35rather than deal with where the challenges are with big contractors manipulating the process,
01:42as well as manipulating the company itself by providing false invoicing.
01:48And there are usually a lot more of that what is contained in the Ernest & Young report to which
01:52the former minister appeared to have turned a blind eye to.
01:56But opposition chief whip and the former public utilities minister Marvin Gonzalez says he is unfazed by what he describes
02:04as political gimmicks by Podarath,
02:06insisting that he had repeatedly raised the concerns about racketeering within WASA during his own tenure.
02:13Gonzalez argues that the long-term solution is to ensure communities receive a reliable supply of water, reducing their dependence
02:20on truck-borne water.
02:22As Minister of Public Utilities, when I had the privilege to serve in that capacity, I was the one who
02:29kept raising the issue of water trucking racket inside of the Water and Sewage Authority,
02:34and I have been prosecuting this matter.
02:36And I have always held the position that the only way in which you deal with this issue is that
02:41WASA has to provide a reliable supply of water to communities,
02:44so that people will not have to rely on truck-borne supply of water because I have observed and I
02:49have discovered many instances
02:51in which citizens are being manipulated on that particular point.
02:55Shala Kisto, TV6 News.
