Newly laid pipe lines leaking at Arnos Vale

Several leaks have sprung up along the newly laid Arnos Vale to Les Coteaux pipeline. The sixty-year-old pipe line was replaced under controversial circumstances during the run-up to the January 21st, Tobago House of Assembly (THA) election. Secretary with responsibility for Public Utilities Hilton Sandy had ordered the pipe laying project to halt just before the Christmas holiday season last year. Following heated protest action by workers employed in the project and consultations between officials of the Water and Sewage Authority (WASA) and the THA, the project was re-started a few weeks later. 

WASA had promised an improvement to the supply of water to a 24/7 for the residents in the area. However, even with the new pipes laid, residents have been complaining bitterly about not getting a regular supply of water. Tobago News counted about half a dozen leaks that had been repaired by WASA during a drive by in the area. A crew, which was observed performing repair works on one of the leaks, was questioned about the situation. “It was a Trinidad-based contractor that laid these pipes,” quipped one worker. When Tobago News questioned a senior WASA official about the leaks in the Arnos Vale pipes, he admitted that due to the heavy pressure of the water, they had been experiencing a few leaks on the new pipe lines. When told about the leaking pipelines WASA Commissioner Hewlett Waldron expressed surprise at this development. “Nobody told me that the new pipe lines at Arnos Vale were leaking,” he asserted. “I would have to do a field visit to see for myself,” declared Waldron.

Source:tobagonews