Gordon Robinson | Old BC vs NWC!

The Old Ball and Chain found another bee lodged in her extensive bonnet.

Old BC: I can’t believe Old Grey Balls allowed National Water Commission (NWC) to get away with trying to cover up its irresponsibility without comment. He’s rabbiting on about gender relations while NWC threatens blatant extortion!

Old GB: Extortion? Isn’t that harsh?

Old BC: It’s kind. What’s this nonsense about charging higher rates during droughts? Did Mark Barnett actually have the brass balls to say, “where persons consume beyond a certain quantum”, the rate should become “so punitive that it’s a discouraging cost ...”? Kmt! Does NWC’s performance or water quality improve during drought? What allows NWC to penalisse customers for needing water? Surely that’s illegal?

Old GB: Maybe. But…

Old BC: Good God Almighty, why is ‘but’ your favourite word? NWC has no moral authority to charge more for NWC ineptitude until they fix their underground leaks, which drain away more than 40 per cent of all water caught in the dam. It’s a scam! Global average, generally considered excessive, is 20 per cent.

Old GB: JPS has done the same. It locked off paying customers whose neighbours were stealing electricity. Prep-school discipline now seems normal response to utilities’ delivery failures.

Old BC: JPS is a private company. NWC is a ‘national’ entity, with public duties performed abysmally. Until NWC collects monies owed by other government agencies; until NWC reverses hidden price hikes, forcing compliant customers to pay for water thieves; until illegal connections are disconnected... . Cho! Why does every government agency target law-abiding citizens and reward defaulters? NWC offers customers owing large sums discounts in ‘amnesties’. But, if I don’t pay one bill, my water is disconnected late on Friday. NWC echoes the average politician. Do as I say, not as I do!

Her rant was triggered by NWC’s proposal of a penal rate during droughts to discourage wastage. But NWC is Jamaica’s leading water waster through ancient, leaking or burst distribution pipes.

Now THIS:

Gleaner (July 1):

“With 50 per cent of disconnected water supplies restored illegally, NWC [is] increasingly concerned about theft and its impact on revenues.

“Monthly, illegal connections amount to $3.5 billion to $4 billion in losses, while electricity theft ... accounts for $550 million to $725 million per month.

“[That monthly cost] could pay NWC’s energy bill at least four times.”

Concerned? What. Is. NWC. Doing. About. It? Oh, I know. Me, Teacher! It’s making Old BC a criminal for watering her garden.

Gleaner (June 2020) reported NWC reduction of “non-revenue water”:

“Country manager for Miya Jamaica Limited said [NWC] has managed to reduce losses by a third [from 60-40%].

“A major factor in the recovery of lost revenue has been the discovery there were more than six times as many leaks than had been recorded officially.”

FAILED TO MANAGE

Droughts in Jamaica are as inevitable and predictable as politicians’ broken promises. Jamaica’s rainfall/groundwater is more than enough to serve our needs, but we’ve failed to manage supply by designing or building effective collection, storage and distribution infrastructure. Believe it or not (by Ripley), approximately 25 per cent of Jamaicans STILL can’t access piped water!

So every year drought is a disaster, and Old BC is told her orchids must die to save Government’s face.

From the horse’s mouth: NWC PR manager Charles Buchanan, in a 2019 media interview:

“The real problem isn’t so much the dams ...

“They are the two large raw water storage reservoirs we have in the country, but we’ve 650 different water supply systems. If the absence or presence of dams in and of themselves were the determining factors about a water supply systems reliability, then it would mean the other 400-odd systems that don’t have that would be constantly in crisis mode.”

Government’s invisible conservation policy and NWC’s incompetence are why drought affects us. Now climate change threatens extinction and NWC’s solution is to force us to pay for NWC uselessness and Government neglect?

Well, NWC will have to deal with Old BC, who is like Bruce Banner. NWC will NOT like it when she’s angry!

Peace and love!

Gordon Robinson is an attorney-at-law. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com.