It’s something we have all experienced in one form or another.

The feeling of exhaustion from being trapped in long lines only to be told that your paperwork or claim is not valid, wasting your time and leaving you frustrated.

For many, a visit to the offices of utility companies has become synonymous with inconvenience and stress, but Minister of Public Utilities Marvin Gonzales is optimistic he can change that with technology and support from workers.

Speaking recently with Newsday at his Tragarete Road, Port of Spain office, Gonzales spoke about the future of utility companies, his experience in overcoming difficult attitudes and the challenges ahead for his ministry.

Pushback from within

A former senior legal officer for the Ministry of Works and Transport, Gonzales says he is no stranger to the shortcomings of bureaucracy.

Recalling challenges faced in attempts to digitise certain processes in the licensing division, he said there will always be resistance by people who feel threatened by change.

“There was a lot of pushback from within the licensing division because they felt we were interfering with their ‘business’ and some even argued it would fail.

“When they retire, they would go into consultancy to make legal applications to challenge what we have done and nullify these improvements. Right now we are still waiting on some of these challenges.”

Added layers of bureaucracy and convoluted systems can also give rise to corruption and lack of transparency, something he intends to address in the different agencies under his remit.

A political first-timer, Gonzales said his main priority in whatever portfolio he was appointed to would be to hold public officers to higher standards of accountability with increased transparency.

WASA’s challenge

While there were some similarities between his work in the Ministry of Works and Transport and the Ministry of Public Utilities, it was not long before Gonzales saw the unique challenges posed to utility companies with the resignation of former executive director of the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) Dr Lennox Sealy.

Sealy resigned five months after his appointment.

[caption id="attachment_908888" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Minister of Public Utilities Marvin Gonzales during an interview with Newsday at his office in Port of Spain. - SUREASH CHOLAI[/caption]

Gonzales said the resignation was not a result of incompetence, but the sheer workload required of Sealy which could have taken his focus away from his main objective of transformation.

"When he was made executive director, he was asked to produce a transformation plan and a structure for the Water and Sewerage Authority by April. That was one of the main mandates he had, and unfortunately he got distracted by the day-to-day operations of the organisation.

"I thought he was a bit overwhelmed because everyday you have to be out, and WASA is so vulnerable to disruption becaus