Former minister Gonzales called for a criminal probe of WASA water trucking. Minister Clyde Elder rejected his criticism.
Former public utilities minister Marvin Gonzales has called for a criminal investigation into an alleged water trucking racket at the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA). He claimed some employees are deliberately depriving communities of pipe-borne water to generate business for water truck contractors.
Gonzales made the claim Saturday morning during the debate on the Appropriation (Financial Year 2027) Bill, 2026. He said that if the authority goes unsupervised, people inside it do not want residents to have a reliable supply, because trucking contractors would lose business. He said turning off valves forces residents to request trucks. He has raised similar concerns before. While minister, he exposed an alleged multi-million-dollar trucking racket in Morne Diablo, where more than 5,000 residents were reportedly forced to buy water after private operators allegedly interfered with WASA’s supply.
Gonzales questioned a nearly $30 million increase in the allocation for water trucking, from $52.9 million in the 2026 estimates to $82.7 million. He said the more people depend on trucked water, the less WASA is delivering pipe-borne supply. He also alleged contractors are being paid twice, receiving $1,200 to carry water to tank farms and another $1,200 to deliver the same water from the farms to households. He said the tank farms are allegedly not connected to the distribution system. He welcomed Public Utilities Minister Barry Padarath’s commitment to stamp out the racket.
Minister in the Ministry of Public Utilities Clyde Elder rejected the criticism of the higher allocation, saying the former PNM administration left WASA with a $78 million trucking bill, including for one of Gonzales’ favorite contractors. He said WASA had told the ministry that Penal, Debe, Mayaro, Princes Town and Barrackpore were deliberately underserved in previous years, and the higher allocation is meant to give those communities water. Elder called for a criminal investigation into an alleged $15 million sole-select WASA contract awarded to a campaign manager weeks before the general election. The Guardian did not report any response from Gonzales to that allegation.
Guardian Media asked Padarath for a response to Gonzales’ allegations, including the claimed double payments, but received none by press time. On Monday, Padarath told Parliament that an EY forensic report found irregularities and unsupported invoices in WASA water trucking.