Over $10 million is owed to the water company which is encouraging persons to go in and work out payment plans to settle their debts. The move comes following court action that was taken against defaulters on the West Coast Demerara.
“GWI has appealed to customers in the past, even going as far as a country-wide disconnection campaign, however we are forced to take legal action since some customers simply refuse to pay for the service,” Director of Corporate Services Nigel Niles said.
Niles noted that the disconnection campaign was not working and so GWI is now extending a payment plan to customers. In October and November court action was taken again some 20 residents in the Den Amstel and Vreed-en-Hoop areas and according to Niles this was very successful.
He said 60 customers from Festival City, South and North Ruimveldt were served with the notices to go in and settle their debts. Niles pointed out that Georgetown has a lot of customers and that area was chosen as the starting point because of the debt owed.
He declined to state exactly how much is outstanding. Niles added that persons have until next week to respond to the notices before legal action is taken. He pointed out that persons have been going in to discuss payment options but the response generally has been slow.
Explaining the payment plan, Niles said defaulters who go in and speak to customer service will have to pay 50 percent of their debt upfront and the remainder in instalments. For persons who cannot afford to pay 50 percent of their debt, the manager of the department will have to be consulted, he added.
The water company is encouraging persons to go in and discuss a payment plan since “failure to do this may prove even more costly should the matter be brought before a court of law”.
