WASA gets new CEOSt Kitts national leaving Bajan water firm for T&T job

The Water and Sewerage Authority will get a new CEO from November 1.

The authority confirmed yesterday that Keithroy Halliday, who is currently the general manager of the Barbados Water Authority, will leave the position he held there for the past seven years to make his way to Trinidad and Tobago to take up the WASA job.

Halliday was born in St Kitts but has spent most of this life in Barbados.

He was the runner-up in the interview process when WASA began the process of recruiting executives in its restructuring process.

However, in July, the Zimbabwean national who was hired to lead the authority ahead of him died before taking office.

On Monday, Public Utilities Minister Marvin Gonzales revealed negotiations were complete but didn’t divulge a name.

Speaking to Guardian Media yesterday, however, Gonzales said it appeared the WASA board had made a good choice, given some of the responses he’s received.

“I have been getting numerous congratulatory messages around the world and in the region about the choice of the new CEO. Clearly, he is well known around the world by water sector experts,” Gonzales said.

“I just want to thank the current acting CEO Kelvin Romain for his tremendous support over the last two years and I look forward to him playing a role in the continued transformation of the water sector in T&T. I look forward to the new incoming CEO using his great depth of knowledge and experience to drive the transformation process forward.”

In a statement, WASA chairman Ravi Nanga said, “Mr Halliday has an enviable track record of success and his mix of knowledge and experience will bring inspirational leadership to the continuing transformation of the authority. We are eager for his arrival and the installation of the rest of the leadership team, and we are looking forward to working together as we move WASA to be the utility of the future.”

According to WASA, Halliday is “no stranger to Trinidad and Tobago, having spent a decade here as general manager in the telecommunications retail industry.

Halliday is a Doctoral Student at the Arthur Lok Jack Graduate School of Business, in the Doctor of Business Administration programme, with emphasis on Intelligent Water Systems. He holds an MBA and Post-Graduate Diploma & Certificate in Business from the Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, Scotland; and has been a Research Associate in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of South Florida since 2018.

Halliday’s announcement first broke in the Barbados media. Local media there reported that the announcement was made in a memo to Barbados Water Authority staff.

“I wish to extend my heartfelt appreciation to each member of the authority for what I regard as your unwavering dedication, relentless effort, and support throughout my time with the authority,” Halliday is reported to have said in the memo.

“It has been an immense privilege, and I feel honoured that we have been able to accomplish notable and distinct progress in the past eight years.”

In Barbados, he was being praised for improving water resource management, working to replace ageing infrastructure and leaks, and improving customer service while collecting outstanding arrears.

WASA has been trying to restructure its management for almost three years.

In 2021, executive director, Dr Lennox Sealy, resigned five months after being appointed to the position. Sealy’s departure followed the suspension of a senior director over misleading information presented to WASA’s board.

Nanga then took over as CEO.

In 2022, Minister Gonzales said WASA had 426 executive managers and the intention was to cut it by 50 per cent (213 managers).

In June, Nanga said the company had hired nine managers to run the authority.

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