DRAINED

BARBADOS Water Authority (BWA) employees working directly with the issues at the South Coast Sewage Plant are also feeling the effects of the crisis.

General Manager of the BWA, Keithroy Halliday, revealed that some employees, who are completely immersed in the on-going matter which has received local and international attention, are experiencing emotional issues.

“They are the ones who are completely immersed in it every day, trying to respond, and trying to effect the best repair and the best solution in a timely way as they can. It can be a little overwhelming from time to time, particularly since resources are scarce.

“So we are really proud of our staff, we encourage them, we salute them, we are trying to make sure that we put things in motion, in terms of trying ways of assisting them,” Halliday said.
The General Manager was speaking to members of the media yesterday at the Hilton Hotel at the Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association’s (BHTA) First Quarterly General Meeting, where he delivered an update on the South Coast Sewage crisis.

Noting that he does not intend to overdramatise the situation, Halliday said BWA has been working with the Ministry of Health to provide counselling and support services for employees who require assistance. He said BWA is also paying attention to the health and safety of their workers.

According to the General Manager, those working in the Waste Water Division are required to have frequent medical check-ups. Instead of every six months, employees in that Division now receive health checks every three months, and according to Halliday, the checks may become a monthly process.

“When I say counselling, I don’t want to dramatise or suggest that our staff are all mentally ill or anything like that. It’s nothing like that, it’s far from that. But it is just a matter of making sure that we extend the support system to our colleagues to let them know that there are times that you can and need to just sit down and vent and let it out.

“We want to make sure it is done in a structured way. We want to make sure that the right type of support is there to make sure that whatever healing needs to take place does happen. You can appreciate that it has been a long period and therefore, they too will feel the effects of it,” he said.

“I must say that the public is a little more understanding. At the end of the day, this is a vexing issue that people just want resolved. But I think as long as they see the effort, and that has been capably demonstrated, then they are more understanding,” he added. (AH)