The Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) has been ordered to compensate a San Juan businessman after a High Court ruling found the utility liable for negligence and nuisance over a sewage disaster that forced his business to close for 45 days.

Justice Frank Seepersad, in a scathing judgment on March 6, warned that ageing and failing sewer mains across Trinidad and Tobago pose a serious public health risk, describing them as a “ticking sewer bomb” that could lead to environmental and sanitary crises if not urgently addressed.

“Repair and/ or replacement of sewer mains is an integral part of maintenance and it is difficult to comprehend why the entirety of this main, which has exceeded its life time, was not replaced.