Padarath told Parliament an EY forensic report found irregularities in WASA water trucking. It cites many unsupported invoices.
Public Utilities Minister Barry Padarath told Parliament on Monday that a forensic report by the consulting firm Ernst & Young (EY) found irregularities and unsupported invoices in water trucking services at the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA).
Padarath said WASA’s Internal Audit and Compliance Department engaged EY to conduct an independent review of transactions with Flexible Enterprises Limited between 2019 and 2024. According to the portions he read, the report identified irregularities totaling about $11.4 million. It also identified 450 unsupported invoices valued at $30.1 million, for which no documentation was provided. Padarath stressed that the findings came from EY and were not his own or the government’s.
EY also flagged systemic and structural weaknesses across WASA’s operations and payment processes. They included governance gaps, inconsistent oversight, poor document management, missing original documents and signatures, and incomplete payment packages. EY also cited manual validation processes with no automation, non-compliance with policy and unauthorized alterations. Padarath said these weaknesses left a high risk of error and fraud.
Padarath said the issues arose while Marvin Gonzales, the MP for Arouca/Lopinot, was the responsible minister. He said Gonzales had spoken about a water trucking racket without telling the country that the problems occurred under his watch. Padarath also said the company registry lists Flexible Enterprises’ address in Gonzales’ constituency. In the portion provided, he did not allege that Gonzales has any link to the company.
The report comes two days after Gonzales called for a criminal investigation into alleged water trucking racketeering at WASA. Gonzales had not responded to the EY findings in the portion of Padarath’s remarks provided.
Information for this report was provided by Padarath’s contribution in Parliament