Minister of Public Works Desmond Bannister
By NEIL HARTNELL
Tribune Business Editor
nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
A Cabinet minister yesterday pledged that the Water & Sewerage Corporation will not be allowed to restart delinquent residential customer disconnections, saying: "That ain't going to happen."
Desmond Bannister, minister of works, told Tribune Business that while Adrian Gibson, the Water & Sewerage Corporation's executive chairman, "means well" the economic and health challenges produced by the COVID-19 pandemic make it critical that Bahamians continue to receive a home water supply.
Responding after Mr Gibson told this newspaper he would write to Cabinet ministers yesterday urging that disconnections resume because of the Corporation's "dire financial straits", Mr Bannister admitted the situation calls for "tough decisions" from the Government.
He added that the two choices were to either allow Mr Gibson "to do what he needs to do" to ensure the Water & Sewerage Corporation covers its operating costs, particularly vendor payments and payroll, or for the Government to provide increased taxpayer subsidies to cover any shortfall. Read more >>