The Barbados Water Authority headquarters
The United Progressive Party (UPP) has criticized the Barbados Water Authority (BWA) for proceeding with its plan to disconnect the water supply of some Barbadians who failed to pay the Garbage and Sewage and Collection Tax (GCE).
In a statement on Sunday, the UPP lamented that the country’s poor would be most affected while charging that the water bills of the wealthy were allowed to “run into the millions.
The UPP insisted that a more efficient means of introducing the new Solid Waste Tax would have been to exempt the most vulnerable which would usually be those with lower water consumption; and require those with the highest
water consumption to pay a slightly higher tax per day.
Last month, Chairman of the BWA Leodeane Worrell revealed that Barbadians were refusing to pay the GSC tax, leading to a 40 per cent fall in the utility’s revenue in the August- September billing period.
In an update last Friday, Worrell told Barbados TODAY that a significant number of domestic and commercial customers were not complying with the GSC tax
She credited the compliance to the BWA making good on its threat to disconnect people and companies racking up arrears because of a refusal to pay the hike.
“Since our last meeting we made it clear that the Barbados Water Authority has the right to cut off the water of people who are in arrears and the non-payment of the entire bill constitutes arrears. So we have started to implement a concerted effort to doing that and as a result of that quite a few number of people have entered into arrangements with the Barbados Water Authority to clear their arrears,” Worrell said
The BWA Chairman also warned corporate entities that have not paid their water bills to “look out, we are coming.”
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so i have been asking some questions here and there and this is what i understand from the answers given. an amendment to the law was necessary before the levies were applied to the water bill. could be wrong but i am sure glad i am not in yuh all shoes.
The buffoonery.
Okay, Ric. Now that you got that off your flat chest, comment on or challenge the remainder of what is written.
"Everyone, based on your above statement, is now convinced you drank the full “topsie” of Koolaid." - CARL yours is injected?
the tax is not legal. it would have no legs in the law courts.
@Tennyson Drakes: “The last administration did not originate the debt problem. It inherited the problem. It tried it’s utmost best to pay off the debt (without defaulting)....”
Everyone, based on your above statement, is now convinced you drank the full “topsie” of Koolaid. Even when it was shown to you that the “last [DLP] administration” (as you prefer call it) increased the debt from $6 billion (approx. 70% of GDP — manageable) in 2008 to $15 billion (approx. 175% of GDP — unsustainable) in 2018, you still continue to mislead the public with downright untruths. The current debt is the third highest in the world behind Japan and Greece (a failed state).
The question is: whose debt was the “last administration” really repaying if not its very own? The debt that resulted in the default was the $450 million Credit Suisse loan obtained by your guys. That was one reason (among others which cannot be mentioned here) there was a mad rush to sell the Hilton Hotel way below market valuation.
The inability or unwillingness to repay the local debt is, in itself, a “default”. The last administration sure as hell, due to its mismanagement of the economy, made it so much easier to default on the country’s debt. As a matter of fact, all signs suggest it was a deliberate “scorched earth policy” on the way out of town.
To say the DLP has not defaulted on its external debt is nothing more than bragging rights. To default is nothing more than creating fiscal space to the debt at lower interest rates and extended the repayment period. Companies file for bankruptcy and re-emerge stronger than ever; Barbados will bounce back to regain the admiration of its citizens, regional neighbors and extra-regional partners.
Whether you want to accept it or not, the policy decisions taken following the May 24 elections, including suspending debt repayments, prevented Barbados from becoming a “failed state” like Greece.
@CC, you must always pay your bills , it does not matter which side of the political fence you are on . I am in the middle so if I don't pay, my service will be cut.
It's that simple.
Go fight it in the Law Court.
DE: The last administration did not originate the debt problem. It inherited the problem. It tried it's utmost best to pay off the debt (without defaulting) and at the same time keep the country from becoming a "failed" state. The electorate did not see it that way and dealt with them at the last election in a very severe manner.
I really think that it is very unreasonable to the people of the country to have those levies place on the water bill.
The government should have created a billing system for that purpose. As I see it the water, sewage and garbage are completely different services and should be treated that way.
What is so about this system is that people are paying for they water and the authorities are threatening then that they water will be disconnected if the levies on the bill are not paid. That is very serious. How can you withdraw the service of a customer who is not in debt for that service. There is not a problem trying to get us out of the hole the former government left us in, and i will support measures to do so, but do not try to cut off the hand that is going to feed you.
She feels proud to say her threats force people to pay their water, but they were in fact paying their water bills but not the sewage/garbage unfair tax. This is one unfair situation for the poor, someone needs to take this to court on the poor's behalf. How come you can't hear her threatening the big businesses such as hotels to pay or have their water turned off, they owe thousands of dollars in water and she dear not touch them. Why does it always have to be the less fortunate to reap this treatment.