The Tribune

By RICARDO WELLS

Tribune Staff Reporter

rwells@tribunemedia.net

WATER and Sewerage Corporation Executive Chairman Adrian Gibson has confirmed officials are still pursuing all outstanding revenue associated with the “do not disconnect” list of privileged residents exposed by The Tribune last September.

Addressing the status of the corporation’s recovery efforts on Monday, Mr Gibson said officials continue to write to individuals featured on the now defunct list, reminding them of the status of their balances.

He also insisted the corporation has now taken a no-nonsense approach to recovering all revenue owed, asserting that all account holders with exorbitant balances have been given “a certain time to pay”.

Before the list was published in this newspaper last year, Mr Gibson told The Tribune the “confidential list” held 221 accounts, with a combined total of $175,000 for the period ending June 2017.

On Monday, he told reporters: “We’ve written to persons…. (the list) no longer exists.”

Mr Gibson added: “There is no special treatment for no politician or anyone else, if you owe the corporation expect that you will pay. If you don’t pay, you are disconnected, simple as that.

“But we have written to persons and we gave them a certain time to pay. If no payment is made, we disconnect the service.

“Of course, (there are) other steps that can be taken to get you to pay what is due.”

The confidential document obtained by The Tribune listed dozens of politicians and other well-connected people, some who owed the water provider thousands. However, others on the list had zero balances, owed less than $500 or were even owed money by WSC.

According to Mr Gibson, the “confidential list” stood only as a part of wider system of management that he met following his appointment as chairman.

Referring to the schedule of payments made so far, he said the revenue recovered only represents a small part of the $45m that still exists in uncollected revenue by the corporation.

Mr Gibson said WSC will do what it needs to do to collect that revenue.

“We are serious about this and we mean, in terms of collecting the corporation’s money…. we mean that we will do what is necessary,” he said.

“That is disconnecting you, writing to you, taking you to court; all of those steps we are prepared to take.”

Mr Gibson said to aid in its collections, the corporation will in the coming weeks roll out a “roving collection scheme”.

He said the scheme will involve a team that will travel around the country to make outstanding balance holders aware of what they owe the corporation.

Moreover, he said there also will be a full media campaign to service the effort and a follow-up team that will carry-out disconnections where necessary.

“There will be areas identified where there will be disconnections, but we will give everybody the opportunity to pay,” he added.

This comes as Mr Gibson revealed in a Tribune Business interview on Monday, that officials at the corporation are pursuing a price hike, the first for the water provider in the last 20 years.

He said: “WSC’s operating cost recovery, which is currently around 68 percent, was expected to improve from 64 percent in 2008 to 84 percent at the end of (an ongoing Inter-American Development Bank project).”

He continued: “At the same time, annual government transfers to the WSC, which were expected to decrease from $24m to zero, remained at $24m in 2015.”

Mr Gibson contended the corporation now needed to put itself in a financial position to service its own operation costs, as the country continues to adjust and adhere to the government’s new fiscal approach.