Tashieka Mair, Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
THE NATIONAL Water Commission (NWC) will be conducting a tariff review for a new tariff to take effect on January 1 next year. The last increase was granted in 2004 and was given a three-year interim which ends in December of this year.
It is expected that the present expenses and the cost of providing their customers with efficient service will be taken into consideration when the new rate is being considered.
CONSIDER CAREFULLY
"At all times the NWC must give careful consideration to the cost of the delivery of the service required by our customers," Corporate Public Relations Manager Charles Buchanan told Wednesday Business. "We have to take into consideration the cost required for improving maintenance works." The NWC is not a company aimed at making vast profits, Mr. Buchanan said. "All the moneys we make go back into our operations."
He said the NWC needs a suitable rate in order to invest in new technological facilities and to be able to maintain its infrastructure and also be able to efficiently replace outdated, damaged pipes. "Unless we get a proper rate we will always have a difficulty to address these issues."
He said that to date the NWC is still the cheapest of all three utility companies in Jamaica.
He says that every month it cost the NWC at least $200 million per month to pay its electricity bill. This is partly due to the problems they face providing water to the very hilly areas of the island.
