May 20, 1999
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May 20, 1999 |
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NWC grants customers amnesty
Carl Wint, Political & Current Affairs Editor
CUSTOMERS OF the National Water Commission (NWC) who are in arrears up to the end of last year, and those with illegal connections, have been granted an immediate amnesty to set their business straight. Water Minister Dr. Karl Blythe, in his Sectoral Debate contribution in Parliament yesterday, said such customers have until June 30 to do so. Where customers are in arrears up to December 1998, they will only have to pay a half of it. If they do not, the entire arrears will become due and payable. Those with illegal connections should visit their local office and legalise their connections, and no action would be taken against them, nor would they be charged for the water they used illegally. After that, the Minister said, the NWC would be taking all steps necessary to collect that which is owed to it. This includes removal of service lines and court action to recover debt. It could result in seizure and sale of goods or the lodging of a caveat against properties. In the case of illegal connections, the full weight of the law would be brought to bear, the Minister said. And in what he described as a revolutionary programme to improve water supply in the rural areas, Dr. Blythe said $100 million had been allocated in the Budget to build additional wayside tanks and to buy 60 4,000-gallon trucks and 40 8,000-gallon trucks with tractor heads. The trucks will fill the wayside tanks, serve commercial establishments, school tanks and the tourism industry. There will also be household tanks to be filled on a scheduled basis. |
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