Over 360 households don’t pay for water- W&SD Director
While she did not explain the origin of how customers were able to have straight lines, she said the matter must now be resolved.
“A straight line [is a water line] without a meter and [customers] are receiving water,” she explained on the Honestly Speaking Radio Programme aired on ZBVI 780 AM on Thursday, December 10, 2020.
“We do have some issues in the field with straight lines that we are trying to correct. There is no penalty, just come in, let us know and let us correct the situation. So we are also encouraging customers and individuals who may know that they have a straight line or something in the field to please come in to resolve that situation.”
Over 300 straight lines
Scatliffe-Leonard also revealed that the figure for persons falling into that category is more than 300.
“We have so far, to date, come across 365 of them,” she stated.
According to her, some persons are coming into the department to right the wrong.
“We are not going to blast anybody, we just want to correct the system because at the end of the day, all of us are stakeholders and I always say to people if we don’t take care of what is taking care of us, we are all going to fall,” she pointed out.
“So come in and let’s all play our part in taking care of what’s taking care of us,” she added.
The Water and Sewerage Department has over 12,000 customers.
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25 Responses to “Over 360 households don’t pay for water- W&SD Director”
W&S have a lot of issues with their system..I for one can never understand their billing at times but I would still pay unless it’s some outrageous act for I would be tired of trying to get my bill rectified..That Todman guy from VG, he’s the one that was able to fix this billing system “somehow”. And this constant water being off and on especially in the moments you really need it is a nightmare.. it all just baffles me to be honest but hopefully God spare for 2021 a better system all around will be in place.. and Ms. Scatliffe is a lovely persons- Always willing to help and for her to let these straight-line users “ride” is very generous of her but I believe they should pay something even if not the full bill but something..
Except meter rent are removed (that’s something we can’t debate). If there’s an issue find the Head. Estimated meters are just about finalised out of the field. The ultrasonic meters that are going into the field now are exactly what we need in addressing receiving an on-time bill for water you use. No Mechanical parts on the inside - water/liquid prompts the reading.
Water is life and a critical infrastructure that is in need of urgent, holistic restructuring. How did water get in this poor deteriorated state? Poor planning and partisan politics. Why could such a critical resource and utility get so politicized, so cultural, so tribal? Again, politics. The by any means necessary political philosophy set the course. For example, BI-Water, a BOT agreement, was not perfect but a good start to providing a reliable, safe and quality potable water supply. Nonetheless, the former government tribalized it and rode it to victory in two elections. Instead of building on the start, it was treated with disdain, delay and indifference. Even with a change in government, it is still a royal mess.
A bunch of cheaters, fraudsters are raping an already floundering system. The property owners and accomplices who made the straight line connections must pay a penalty. An average usage rate should be established and the cheaters should be charge for all time they bypass the meter. To do nothing will be a slap in the face to those customers who struggled but made their payments religiously.
Moreover, in regards to Water and Sewage Department, it must do a better job maintaining, repairing and operating the system (production, transmission, distribution), accounting for water production and usage (water must be a 100% accounted for), billing and fee collection ( the electronic system being down is no excuse for not manually reading the meter and billing manually as needed), testing for water quality delivery...........etc. Government must invest more in water, set higher expectations and demand a higher performance level. The system is currently under performing. By the way, water management should be centralized under Water and Sewage Department with proper staffing. The current centralized/ decentralized approach is inefficient and ineffective.