PM plans to outsource APUA Water service instead of working with Opposition team, while critic asks about Sir Robin’s record

Amidst criticism of Prime Minister Gaston Browne’s plan to
outsource certain aspects of the Antigua Public Utilities Authority
(APUA) water services, MP Jamale Pringle is confirming that no

discussion of this matter has been held with him or any member of
the Opposition Bench.

Browne announced, last weekend, that he is considering two
options for the outsourcing: Caribbean Water Treatment, a local
company, and another business operating here but based in
Trinidad & Tobago.

However, this came as a surprise to Pringle, since, he says, he is still
awaiting a response to his October 19 letter to PM Browne about a
non-partisan approach to solutions to the water crisis.

During a September sitting of the Lower House, Pringle, the leader
of the Opposition, had suggested that the water problems facing the
Nation should be approached from a non-political position, and had
offered to collaborate with the Administration on answers.

Browne followed this up with an October 5 letter of invitation to
Pringle and two of his parliamentary colleagues to attend an
October 25 Cabinet meeting at which APUA officials and all the
members of the Executive were expected to be present.

However, in his response, Pringle declined to be part of such a
forum, explaining that a closed-door meeting was not what his Party
had envisioned.

’What we, in the United Progressive Party, have in mind is a forum
that includes the public – both residents and businesspeople – who,
ultimately, are the ones most affected by the current situation,”
Pringle wrote.

Instead, he proposed that “a Select Committee of the House be
appointed to investigate the problems associated with the provision
of pipe-borne water,” with two colleagues and himself serving as
Committee Members.

He further proposed that, “in keeping with the Standing Orders of
the House, the manager and technicians of APUA’s Water Division
will be summoned to meet with the Committee to share information
and answer questions. Ahead of the meeting, the public would be
encouraged to submit questions and then invited to observe the
session(s).”

The findings and recommendations of the Select Committee would
then be compiled and reported to the House for further action by
the Parliament and Executive, the Opposition Leader said.
However, to date, Pringle says, his counter-proposal has not even
been acknowledged.

Right after assuming office in 2014, PM Browne promised residents
that the water woes being experienced then would be improved
within 14 days.

However, despite the addition of several reverse-osmosis plants and
a significant amount of re-piping, the situation has worsened. And
even with more than 11 inches of rainfall in October, residents
across the island are complaining that they are not receiving piped
water for days and weeks at a time.

“After spending millions to buy reverse-osmosis plants for each
parish; lying on the UPP about water and [electricity] to win election
in 2014; and after getting rain like sand on beach, the people still
can’t get regular water,” a businessman complains to our
Newsroom.

“Now, you’re telling us that the old manager is leaving and you hope
the new one will solve the water problem? Give me a break!
“The PM should resign also, because the people put him there to
solve the problem in 14 days. And, nine years later, after telling lies
on the UPP you’re asking them to help you solve water problem?
Big joke!” the man concludes, laughing.

Meanwhile, unconfirmed reports say that, after receiving a tongue-
lashing from Prime Minister Browne during his radio programme on
Saturday, APUA General Manager Esworth Martin quit the job on
Monday.

Browne told his audience that, subsequent to advising Public
Utilities Minister Melford Nicholas to get rid of the general manager,
he was advised that Martin had volunteered to leave the job in about
six weeks.

Among the managers threatened with the axe was Water Manager
Ian Lewis, whom Browne told to do something quickly to prevent
his own termination.

Residents tell REAL News that, after the public abuse of APUA’s
management and staff meted out by Browne, “only a dog would
continue working there.”

In the meantime, during Monday’s Eye on the Issues programme on
Progressive FM, the United Progressive Party’s chairman, D.Gisele
Isaac, said she found it “unfair and unjust” that all the blame for the
water problems was being heaped on Martin and Lewis and their
subordinates.

She noted that Sir Robin Yearwood – within whose portfolios APUA
had fallen for decades, until the General Election in January, and who
still holds a senior position at the corporation – appears to have
been absolved of all responsibility for the current situation.

Although no longer a member of the Executive, Yearwood has been
pictured in meetings of the Cabinet and remains a front-sitting
backbencher in the House of Representatives. However, he has not
said a word about APUA – or even his constituency – since being
reelected 10 months ago, despite still being a policymaker.

Accordingly, with no accountability demanded of Sir Robin, many
people say that Martin and Lewis have been “thrown under the bus”
by PM Browne.