Leonardo Blair, Staff ReporterTHE NATIONAL Water Commission (NWC) said Tuesday that it was on a renewed drive to find persons of influence who are willing to enter volatile 'red area' communities to encourage water users to pay their water bills.
Gawaine Forbes, general manager of the NWC's legal department, said that while this approach is not new, the water utility company expects the move to be much more strategic and result-oriented than it had been in the past.
"We are seeking to identify persons of influence, who know these communities... who can go in and get persons to pay," said Mr. Forbes. He was, however, quick to point out that there is no intention to work with any 'dons' on this project.
"What we are doing in the 'red areas' is that we are devising a system where we can send an independent person into these areas where you can't go to encourage payments or disconnect. We have contractors who are prepared to bear the risk," he said.
He explained that over the last few years, in an "ad hoc way" the NWC had been able to attract a few persons who were prepared to take the risk in communities like Seaview Gardens in West St. Andrew, where a NWC worker was shot some years ago. These persons will receive less than 50 per cent of the collections for their services.
Mr. Forbes pointed out that while Kingston and St. Andrew have a hot list of 'red areas' where payments for water services go largely uncollected, St. Catherine currently leads the way in 'uncollectable areas'.
And in other areas of concern, the NWC said it has also been discovering an increasing number of illegal sewage connections, adding that it will be clamping down on institutions, hotels or residential homes that are in breach.
"What we are noticing is that there are sewage connections now. One may say nobody has stolen anything but the collection of sewage rates is a significant part of our revenue. The cost of sewage systems also far outweighs the water systems," said Mr. Forbes.
For some time now, the costs of operating the NWC have far exceeded the agency's revenues and collections. Each month, the NWC needs between $500 million and $600 million to provide services across the island. Each month, however, revenue collections amount to just over $350 million.
