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PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad – June 25, 2025 —
Trinidad and Tobago’s Public Utilities Minister Barry Padarath has launched a blistering assault on the former People’s National Movement (PNM) administration, tearing into their controversial WASA Transformation Plan and slamming their decision to appoint St. Kitts-Nevis national Keithroy Halliday as CEO of the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA).

Speaking late Monday night during the debate on the Standing Finance Committee’s report, Padarath branded Halliday as a “failed CEO from Barbados,” claiming his appointment was emblematic of the PNM’s reckless mismanagement. He described the entire transformation project as a $13.4 million fiasco that would have sent 2,500 Trinidadian workers packing.

“They spent $13.4 million of your money on a plan with no clear deliverables, and in the end, 2,500 workers were on the chopping block,” Padarath thundered in Parliament. “They brought in Halliday from St. Kitts and Nevis, who had just left Barbados, to run WASA with no proper performance targets. And we, the taxpayers, were footing the bill.”

Padarath revealed damning details:

• $1.8 million was paid to the head of transformation—yet no targets were ever set.
• Over $1 million was paid to a legal team in just the last year.
• Significant sums went to foreign consultants with little oversight or results.

Halliday’s appointment had raised eyebrows from the start. Announced on August 30, 2024, he only officially took the helm on December 1, 2024, following a mysterious one-month deferral. Halliday had previously served as General Manager of the Barbados Water Authority (BWA), where he was lauded for turning the agency into a “zero-budget entity.” But Minister Padarath questioned whether those achievements were credible or transferable to Trinidad’s far more complex WASA operations.

“This was a foreign fix for a local problem, and it failed miserably,” said Padarath. “WASA is not a guinea pig for imported CEOs and vague million-dollar plans.”

The minister defended the Government’s decision to scrap the transformation plan altogether, saying it was the only responsible course of action to protect jobs and the public purse.

Political observers say the fiery address has set the stage for a heated general election battle, with the Halliday appointment now a potent symbol of the PNM’s alleged failure to prioritize nationals and workers’ interests.

Meanwhile, Halliday has yet to publicly respond to the minister’s stinging criticisms, but the scandal continues to reverberate across both Trinidad and St. Kitts and Nevis, where questions are also emerging about the regional track record of public sector executives parachuted into top Caribbean posts.

Stay tuned to Times Caribbean Global for more updates on this unfolding controversy.