Point Fortin MP Ernesto Kesar is defending the government’s handling of recent water supply disruptions in the borough, while accusing critics of exaggerating the extent of the outages.
In an address to residents on Sunday, Kesar said water service interruptions stemmed from repairs to infrastructure linked to the Point Lisas desalination system and a rupture on a 24-inch main serving Point Fortin. He said WASA kept the public informed throughout the process and deployed water trucks to affected communities.
“And that they would have increased the capacity to around 5.98. And then they go on now, on the 8th of October, you had restoration, Point Fortin, Popper, Self-Help, Newlands, Mahica, Clifton Hill, Egypt, and they go down. And then they go to the 9th, the 10th, the 11th, the 12th.”
The MP rejected claims that some areas were left without water for as long as 15 to 20 days, describing those assertions as misleading. He argued that water supply challenges in Point Fortin predate the current administration and pointed to several past instances of prolonged disruptions linked to aging infrastructure.
“The point I’m making, the reality is there has been some significant development with water supply in general in Point Forte. Much, much improvement could be done. But it is very disingenuous to be trying to gaslight the people and telling people that we out our water for 20 days. Well, I’m surprised you didn’t say a month or two months. I’m surprised.”
Minister Kesar said old cast-iron pipelines remain a major challenge and called for long-term investment to address water reliability issues across the country.