He says that she hasn't consulted with the village councils and the corresponding area rep, as she is obliged to do, according to the law. Ferguson further alleges she should not be allowed to exercise her authority in such an arbitrary fashion, but Dr. Barnett has since told us that he jumped the gun when he came to the media with this complaint.

Last night after the news, Dr. Barnett responded to our requests for comment, and she told us that she is currently out of the country.

Via text messages, she said, quote, "The process is going the way it usually does. And this time we added the public notice and individual communications to each area rep that the process was starting. The process has not been completed. For some boards, proposed names have been received, reviewed and names of persons who we are proposing to appoint have been shared with the area reps. and village councils, in keeping with the requirements of the law. I have received letters from Ferguson and Requeña. They seem to have gone to the media before we could reply to them." End quote.

And in a press release sent only minutes ago, the Ministry of Labour, Local Government, and Rural Development chimed in on Dr. Barnett's behalf.

Their press release says, quote,

"As to the allegations regarding specific water boards made by area representative Hon. Rodwell Ferguson:
1. The Ministry wrote to Hon. Ferguson and the village council chairpersons in August indicating that the process was starting.
2. 2. The Ministry did receive suggestions for some of the water boards in that constituency.
3. 3. The Ministry wrote to Hon. Ferguson indicating the persons proposed to be appointed to some water boards after review of all suggestions received.
4. 4. Last week, Hon. Ferguson and some village council representatives sent a letter to the Ministry complaining about the proposed appointees and shared the complaints with the media even before the Ministry could respond in the spirit of consultation." End quote.