W&SD owed in excess of $1.7M
This was alluded to by Minister for Communications and Works, Honourable Mark H. Vanterpool at a press briefing on July 23, 2013 where heads of department within his ministry were present to respond to questions from the media and concerned citizens.
“Like you pay for water and you pay for electricity, you also should be paying for connecting to our sewerage system,” stressed the minister during his presentation.
Elaborating on the situation, Director of Sewerage and Water (Ag.) Ms Perline Scatliffe-Leonard said the arrears date back as far as 2005 and they have so far managed to work at reducing the extent of arrears as evident mainly in the commercial sector. She also stated that in many cases persons were not aware they were required to pay a sewerage bill.
Residential customers who are charged an average monthly bill of $27 are said to be the main defaulters with the greater population being residents from Cane Garden Bay, Tortola. Scatliffe-Leonard also said the department has persons on a payment plan, which is aimed at reducing the arrears in a timely manner.
“Cane Garden Bay residents are defaulting by a hundred percent,” emphasized Ms Scatliffe-Leonard.
The Water and Sewerage Department has admitted to the possibility of having human errors in their record systems as they are currently utilizing a manual system to update customers’ account for billing. This is according to Ms Scatliffe-Leonard, who also made an appeal to customers to bear with them whenever this may occur.
She explained to Virgin Islands News Online (VINO) that the department reads meters from the 1st – 14th day of each month. This is usually followed by disconnections from West to East, a pattern that is similar to that of the BVI Electricity Corporation (BVIEC), according to Ms Scatliffe-Leonard. How long the disconnection team takes to move from one location to another is dependent on the number of disconnections to be done in any given community.
“We produce a disconnection list every month and because of the system we have right now, we have to manually go through each account. So you must bear with us because sometimes human errors may occur,” she explained while admitting that there have been cases where persons were disconnected in error.
As it regards payments, Ms Scatliffe-Leonard said that unlike in the past when it took the department an extended time to update customers’ payment accounts, it is now being done on a daily basis. “I am not saying that because I want to say that but I am saying that because I myself checked to ensure that this is being done.”
She said customers in arrears of $20 and over are usually targeted for disconnections.
The Minister for Communication and Works, Honourable Mark H. Vanterpool, had also announced at the press briefing that effective January 1, 2014 the Water and Sewerage Department (W&SD) will be merged with the British Virgin Islands Electricity Corporation (BVIEC), a move he assured will not see the loss of any jobs.
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24 Responses to “W&SD owed in excess of $1.7M”
the human errors that are occurring are happening as a result of you hiring incompetent individuals (family members and friends). The whole government system is suffering because of such actions and we just can't seem to open our eyes and address these problems head on.
Government should NEVER let accounts payable and accounts receivable reach to this point. The first month you did not collect 75% of your sewerage revenue, it would be serious. As a manager I should see an accounts analysis from the supervisor. Collecting money after a long period of time is very difficult in any situation. It was the same thing with the hospital, lawd have mercy. I am wondering what other department losing millions.
It is nice to see someone is taking action of a payment plan, I hope the people pay. Oh I want to know why the meter move when there is air in it. Because it is unfair to customer paying 800 and 500 in water bill when its just air in the line. I think W&S need to check this out. I prefer to stick with the cistern. Another thing I thought that sewerage fee were 9.99 per month. It change. Well is a long time I was not in Tortola. Living in England is worse , you pay for everything, including the people who wash the street and throw some water on you dead plants then send you a bill later to say them water you plant. Lawd have mercy
A new system needs to be put in place to Owners can get the bills monthly and on time so Landlords like myself don't have to pull hair each month to pay a Water or Sewerage bill.
Water and Sewerage needs a overhaul like how you need to overhaul your transmission or engine and then they are talking about joining BVIEC to this havoc!!!!!!!!!! They need to fix and not create more problems