FTC – BWA faces hundreds of service breaches

By Emmanuel Joseph

The Barbados Water Authority (BWA) breached 400 guaranteed standards of Service (GSS) affecting residential customers in 2021 and 2022—an improvement on its performance in 2020, the Fair Trading Commission (FTC) has found.

The GSS regulation establishes minimum service quality standards, incentivises quality improvements, enables customer satisfaction monitoring, and safeguards consumer interests.

In its latest performance review for those two years, the utility regulator said the BWA reported these breaches, resulting in an average 65.75 per cent compliance rate with the GSS. This represents a significant improvement from the previous year’s 23.01 per cent compliance rate, though the regulator noted it still amounts to a suboptimal performance level.

The commission highlighted a 91.87 per cent compliance rate for completing service application investigations in Zone 1 water table areas, up from 88.31 per cent in 2021.

Among commercial customers, 35 breaches were reported for a 65 per cent compliance rate on installations outside Zone 1 areas. Of 100 service applications received, 65 were completed within the stipulated time frame, which the FTC described as a substantial decline compared to the previous year’s 87.91 per cent rate.  

The BWA attributed the breaches to the unavailability of labour, materials and equipment, negatively affecting productivity. COVID-19 staff quarantines and isolations also hampered service during the first quarter of the review period.

The water authority said it is taking actions to improve resource availability, including increasing plumbing crew staffing, facilitating equipment and transportation access, ensuring adequate materials storage, and addressing ageing infrastructure that causes frequent pipe bursts.

Efforts to mitigate the service backlog involved simultaneously installing pending and new service applications while having employees work overtime. According to the BWA, personnel rotation, increased monitoring, and improved transport resources also aided in performance improvements.

The BWA said it anticipates its strategic approach to the pipe installation process will result in a sustained increase in compliance over time.

emmanueljoseph@barbadostoday.bb