Minister of Public Utilities Marvin Gonzales said he is disappointed with a team of Water and Sewage Authority (WASA) workers captured without masks in Newsday's front-page photo on Wednesday.

The photo, taken by Newsday’s photographer Angelo Marcelle on Tuesday, showed four men standing close to each other, with another man a few feet away doing what looked like minor underground pipe repairs at Tarouba Link Road in San Fernando.

When contacted, Gonzales said, “That is very disappointing, because it is not only what is required on the job, but what individuals are expected to do as personal responsibility, as well as the responsibility to adhere to the laws of the country, and the health ordinance.

"So that's very unfortunate, and I think the manager or managers should have taken extra precautions or be taking extra precautions to ensure all employees adhere to protocols.

He stipulated, “All workers are expected to follow the health protocol during working hours, maintain the necessary social distancing etc, and wearing of masks, and everything that is dictated by the health protocols. We are doing the necessary staff rotation to keep them safe.”

Public Services Association president Watson Duke commented, “I would say this is an unfortunate story because the story is not what appears to be right.

"WASA seems to be on the knife (in) that certain political organisations want to cut WASA up and share with their friends.

Returning to the subject of the photo, he said, "If the picture is taken within its proper context, one will actually recognise that those workers were, in fact, within their own space and they should wear their mask.”

Up to Wednesday afternoon WASA had 56 covid19 cases and over 600 employees were in quarantine.

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