“We have nothing to hide.”

That was the comment by Public Utilities Minister Marvin Gonzales, as he refuted a claim by Opposition Leader Kamla Persad Bissessar that government was planning to axe 2,500 workers from the Water and Sewerage Authority.

The Opposition Leader, in her budget response presentation in the House of Representatives on Friday, claimed to have seen a copy of the restructuring plan.

Minister Gonzales, in response, said he found the allegation “strange”, given the transformation plan was laid in the Parliament.

“Two years ago we laid in this Parliament, a report on the findings of a Cabinet sub-committee on the operations of WASA. This report was laid before this Parliament for every single member to read and for every single citizen who might be interested in the operations at WASA,” Gonzales said.

“So when the Opposition Leader comes here and talks about some action plan- there is no action plan approved by the government of Trinidad and Tobago to reduce employees by 2000+ employees- I’m not aware of it,” he maintained.

Earlier this week, WASA got the green light to go ahead with its transformation plan, after the Industrial Court dismissed an effort to stop it by the Public Service Association.