The Water and Sewerage Authority's current financial problems are as a result of errant customers Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar said yesterday.

Speaking at the official commissioning of the water treatment plant at Talparo, she said Government's $1.2 billion subvention to the utility company was far more than it has been earning.

"Every year as the government gives to WASA $1.2 billion a year, that money isn't Government's money, that is your money, the tax paying citizens of Trinidad and Tobago."

Persad-Bissesar said accounts receivable indicated that WASA is owed $506 million and out of it $306 million is owed by residential customers. She said WASA has therefore embarked on a drive to become economically viable in a short period of time through a number of strategies which include ensuring customers pay their outstanding bills.

She said the former government poured billions of dollars into WASA without demanding the quality service that this government is now demanding.

The 2,700 Talparo residents benefiting from the water treatment plant were deserving of an increased water supply.

Persad-Bissessar said before they got a 24-hour supply once a week but now they get more than they ever had before — a 100 to 200 per cent increase in water supply.

She noted that several new waste water treatment plants are to be constructed in several locations across the country including Malabar and Maloney, San Fernando and Tobago by year's end as well as the construction of the Point Fortin desalination plant which will add 4.6 million gallons of water to the distribution system.