Public Utilities Minister Senator Robert Le Hunte is leading a Trinidad and Tobago delegation at the World Water Week which began in Stockholm, Sweden on Monday, 27th August.
The Minister and his team are in Sweden on the invitation of the Inter-American Development Bank, the IDB, to participate in the “Eye on Latin America and the Caribbean Activities” during World Water Week.
The theme for this year’s World Water Week is “Water, Eco- systems and Human Development”.
The global forum examines new approaches to development and planning in order to build more resilient and resourceful societies, as the world seeks to combat the effects of climate change, increased water variability and stressed eco- systems.
Minister Le Hunte was also invited by the Global Water Operators’ Partnerships Alliance, GWOPA at UN HABITAT, to be the keynote speaker at the event “The Role of Water Utilities in SDGs and the New Urban Agenda”, which was one of the scheduled activities of the week-long forum. He delivered his address on Tuesday, 28th August at around 8 a.m. local time to an audience of utilities managers from around the world, including San Francisco, Zambia, the Philippines and Argentina.
In his address, The Public Utilities Minister shared Trinidad and Tobago’s experience and challenges in providing efficient, reliable and cost-effective water and sanitation services to the population.
“We recognise that the public utilities system plays an essential and strategic role in economic and social development, whether it relates to water and sanitation, solid waste management, electricity, public lighting systems or telecommunication services,” Minister Le Hunte said.
“In order to achieve our national vision and our commitment to the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals),” he continued, “we are seeking to transform our public utilities agencies into efficient, cost-effective and reliable service providers.”
While in Stockholm, Minister Le Hunte also held discussions with Sergio Campos, Division Chief of the Inter-American Bank’s Water and Sanitation Division. Those discussions centered around the provision of technical support for the Ministry’s thrust to reduce Non-Revenue Water in Trinidad and Tobago.
Every year, World Water Week brings together over three thousand participants from over one hundred countries, all united by a passion to build a water-wise world.
World Water Week is organized and hosted by the Stockholm International Water Institute.
The conference focuses on new thinking and positive action toward water-related challenges and their impact on the world environment, health, climate, economic development and poverty reduction.
It is the focal point for the globe’s water issues where experts, practitioners, decision makers, business innovators and young professionals from a range of sectors and countries come together to network, exchange ideas, foster new thinking and develop solutions to the world’s most pressing water related challenges.