Dear Claudienne,

I have a very serious problem with the National Water Commission (NWC) at my premises in Waterford, Portmore. My granddaughter is living at the home. She goes to work from 9:00 am to 7:00 pm weekdays and the NWC is sending water bills for the premises of between $80,000.00 and $104,000.00 monthly. The NWC has informed us that our water bill is now $ 1,960,415.00.

We hired a plumbing company to do a leak detection test at the premises on March 2, 2023. The summary of the test was sent to the NWC and to the Office of Utilities Regulation. The summary of the test stated the following:

“Components Assessed, Findings, and Recommendations of the said components by our technicians.

Components assessed:

• Water Meter with serial # 61826xxx, and Pipe System.

Findings

• After completing the necessary checks, we observed the water meter was registering 0.000.

Also, after running the water pipe constantly the water meter was still registering 0.000.

Recommendations

• We recommend that the water meter mentioned above be thoroughly checked or changed urgently as it seems defective.”

There is no way a home is supposed to use that much water $80,000.00 to $104,000.00 per month when no business is being done at the property.

I am frustrated and sick and tired of this situation and am seeking your help to have this situation resolved.

GH

Dear GH,

Tell Claudienne has been in communication with the NWC in regard to your concerns.
Tell Claudienne notes that you met with an NWC vice-president on January 11, 2024.

The NWC then wrote to you as follows:

“In reference to the captioned and our discussion on January 11, 2024, I write to advise that further checks were conducted and data extracted from meters revealed that numerous leakage alarms were triggered during the period in question. This means that the data from the meter confirms that there were leaks over the period. The charges applied are, therefore, accurate and payable.

Kindly note that the account currently reflects a balance of $1,803,176.82.

Based on the aforementioned, in a bid to bring the matter to a close, the NWC is proposing a 30 per cent negotiated settlement and a payment arrangement to settle the balance over twelve (12) months.

If you agree with this proposal, contact may be made with our regional manager for St Catherine/Clarendon, Mr Garwaine Johnson, via email at
garwaine.johnson@nwc.com.jm to facilitate this arrangement.”

We wish you all the best.

Have a problem with a store, utility, a company? Telephone 876-936-9436 or Cell Whatsapp # 876-484-1349 or write to: Tell Claudienne c/o Sunday Finance, Jamaica Observer, 40-421/2 Beechwood Avenue, Kingston 5; or e-mail:edwardsc@jamaicaobserver.com. Please include a contact phone number.