Residents in certain areas in Mayaro were forced to wait several hours later than usual for water to be turned on in their area on the day of TnT’s crucial World Cup match with England.

Instead of waking up to water, as they have grown accustomed to in the past few months because of the enforced water scheduling in the area, residents found themselves with dry taps.

But while Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) officials blamed it on lack of diesel in the company’s vehicle, which one worker said created transportation problems, annoyed residents squarely blamed it on lazy WASA em-ployees who, they said, chose to stay glued to their television sets rather than bring relief to scores of suffering households.

“You know how hard it was to wake up and turn on the tap to find no water?” one angry villager asked.

“Is every four days we get water and if we don’t get our supply on schedule we have to wait another four days and that is real pressure.”

They said the World Cup fever that has gripped Trinbago is severely affecting production in some areas.

“World Cup or no World Cup, Thursday was our day to get water in our district and WASA is always on time with it that’s why we refused to accept the lame excuse about diesel.”

One man explained that when they called WASA on the morning to complain that there was no water, it was explained to them that there was no diesel in the vehicle, so the turncock couldn’t work.

Mayaro has been experiencing a diesel shortage for some time now.

“They say the turncock couldn’t walk to the area where the valves were located to turn them on and off,” he went on to explain.

Residents however argued that the valves were located within walking distances.

“Long time the turncocks used to walk with the keys to do their jobs.

He added: “What if it don’t have diesel; can’t he take a cool walk just to give people a drink of water?”

It was not until late afternoon after the match was over and Soca Warriors fans had gotten over the hard-fought match which TnT lost by two goals to nil, that the van was dispatched and the valve turned on.

“They said they got a gallon of diesel borrowed from a WASA employee and put it in the van.

“But isn’t that coincidental that it came when the game ended?

“Why didn’t they do the same thing since morning?” he asked.