No SSA privatisation on the cards

ENVIRONMENT Minister Dr. Denis Lowe has rubbished claims that the Government of Barbados is contemplating the privatisation of the Sanitation Services Authority (SSA).

He was speaking on the Barbados Green Scoping Study in the Lower Chamber yesterday morning when he said: “Let me make it abundantly clear to all and sundry. There has been no discussion in the government, there is no intention on the part of the government at this time, to privatise the SSA.”

 

“That is a fact. And all of those who have been seeking to create mischief in the society to try to influence public opinion, they have been speaking out of turn. They don’t know what they are taking about.... without understanding or seeking to understand what the intention of government is, let me repeat, there is no intention on the part of the government to privatise the SSA.”

 

Minister Lowe said any move towards privatisation, the SSA would become a commercial entity. “If you privatise, the householders would have to pay to get their waste collected. The government will not subsidise any privatisation of the SSA. Let me make that clear. That is why we believe that garbage collection in Barbados is best kept in the hands of the State. Because the State sees it not as a commercial endeavour. The State sees it as an essential social service. The study talks about that.”

 

The Minister said he recently had a meeting with some of the SSA staff and made this position abundantly clear. “This government took a position, even during the retrenchment, to make sure the SSA was protected. Because we understand the vital role of that institution in our society and the delivery of an important social good. We understand that and we do not believe the commercialisation of the SSA is going to solve the problems that we have. So therefore, if we decide to privatise. Who is going to pay for it? Somebody still has to pay for the garbage produced and its collection,” he stated.

 

He lambasted persons whom he said were propagating this point without any evidence.

 

“They say the Minister has not been talking, I was not well. And did not fetter myself with the unwieldy mouthings of some in and out of the press.”

 

Minister Lowe said however that the Government reserves to right to assess every operation and decide what is the best approach to execute national responsibilities.

“That is the government’s prerogative. If the government had decided that they wanted to privatise the SSA, the government has the right to do that. But the fact is there has not been any whispers, any hints, any conversations in any corner that the SSA is going to be privatised,” Lowe further pointed out.

 

He reminded that Government has used private haulers to assist with collection in the past. “Last June we had the private haulers involved in the collection of waste. We didn’t have compactors, but we had private haulers who came in with their trucks and bobcats, during the Crop Over season and then into Christmas. And we had also the services of the Drainage Division, the NCC that assisted in the collection of waste.”

 

The Minister said the accumulation of waste is not the fault of the Government, but the consumption patterns of householders, who must see the value of waste and separate their garbage at source.

 

He stressed the challenges facing the SSA has nothing to do with the staff, but the lack of reliable equipment. Minister Lowe said this is nothing new, noting that in 2005 the SSA went down to five or six trucks, a new fleet was bought and broke down in less than two months. 

(JH)