Dear Claudienne

Congratulations on the good job you’ve been doing to assist the public who are being overwhelmed by these utility companies (especially the monopolistic ones).

I have been trying for months to get the National Water Commission (NWC) to resolve some problems with a small block of apartments, comprising 4 units, at Horizon Park, St. Catherine. But I am too frustrated to continue the fight alone.

It started with the NWC personnel, who installed the water meters, assigning the wrong water meter serial numbers to some of the apartment units. This has led to a mix-up and has resulted in the occupants of the units receiving the wrong bills.

This has caused the occupants of the units to experience unnecessary stress in trying to identify their correct water bills each month.

There are also over-billing issues as the bills are unusually high despite the complex experiencing daily water lock-offs and weak water pressure because of the long drought.

One of the apartments was locked up as the tenant was off the island from February 2014 and returned in mid-October 2014. However, her water bill continued to climb each month in her absence. We checked for leaks and there are absolutely none and the whole plumbing apparatus is brand new.

With regard to the meter for the common area, which only supplies a garden pipe, in one month we were billed for $24,000, even though the plants were not watered and dried up during the period of the drought.

I have made numerous phone calls, and visited the NWC’s offices at Marescaux Road, Portmore and Spanish Town. I have also written letters seeking the utility’s help in fixing the myriad of problems.

I was recently notified by the Spanish Town office that the meter numbering error had been rectified, but the apartments are still getting the wrong bills as the postal address errors have not been corrected.

I am seeking your help in getting the NWC to normalise the situation at the complex.

PT

Dear PT

We asked the NWC to investigate your complaint. On Thursday January 22, the NWC informed Tell Claudienne that all the issues you complained about have now been rectified. The NWC told us that in a letter they sent you last week, you were given a breakdown of the meter readings for each apartment. The letter also detailed the credit or debit to be applied by the NWC to each apartment.

Good luck.

Dear Claudienne

My dad is a pensioner and he has been ill for the past three years. He has a heart condition and is suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.

Two years ago I accompanied my dad to the N.I.S office in Spanish Town as he had asked them to have my name replace his name on the pension book cheques as he is unable to go to the bank or post office in person. They did an interview and had us fill out a form. We were told that someone would vist our place of residence to verify that my dad and I were both living at the given address.

The NIS visited our home but to this day, over two years later, my name has not replaced my dad’s name in the pension book. For my father to have his pension cheque cashed is very stressful, as we have to charter a car and have a family member accompany him to the post office to encash it. On some days he cannot even get out of the car, so a postal clerk has to come to the car to prove his identity.

In January of 2015 he went to the post office and was about to faint. The postmistress had to ask my teenage son to take him back to the taxi. After a while when he was revived, he was able to sign the voucher. It is not only stressful but costly to charter a taxi every time he needs to go to the post office. Kindly investigate for me as it is becoming unbearable. Thanks much for your help.

MW

Dear MW

Tell Claudienne spoke to the manager of the Spanish Town NIS office, and when we explained your plight he immediately set up an appointment for you to see him.

We note that when you went to see him he gave you a letter to facilitate your being able to change your father’s pension cheques for the next six months. The manager explained that you were given the letter, because your father recently received a new pension book on which the cheques were made payable to him. He told you that when the NIS was preparing your father’s next pension book in six months’ time, your name would replace his name on the pension cheques.

Good luck.

Have a problem with a store, utility, a company? Telephone 936-9436 or write to: Tell Claudienne c/o Sunday Finance, Jamaica Observer, 40-42 1/2 Beechwood Avenue, Kingston 5; or e-mail: edwardsc@jamaicaobserver.com. Please include a contact phone number