A Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) customer is now before the court as the company has been experiencing an increase in the number of instances where meter readers have been verbally abused or threatened while on the duty.
Nourang Ramsingh, of D’Edward Village, West Coast Berbice appeared in the Blairmont Magistrate’s Court where he faced charges of verbally abusing and issuing threats to the GWI meter reader who has been asked to appeared in court and is ready to testify.
A release from GWI on Wednesday said that the incident occurred earlier this month and occurred after the GWI meter reader requested access to Ramsingh’s residence for an accurate reading from his water meter. The GWI employee was then allegedly verbally abused by Ramsingh upon entering his premises, the release stated. The matter was reported to the GWI Customer Services Manager responsible for the Fort Wellington Office after which the Guyana Police Force was contacted and a full report on the incident was provided.
After the necessary actions were taken, an arrest was made and Ramsingh was charged with verbal abuse. He appeared in the Blairmont Magistrate’s Court and pleaded not guilty to the charge.
The release noted that the Chief Executive (ag) of GWI, Nigel Niles has implemented a ‘no tolerance policy’ for excessive verbal abuse or any form of physical abuse by customers. He advised that customers who are disgruntled must seek assistance through the normal channels provided by the company’s Customer Services Department. Niles further advised that customers must be cognizant of the fact that they are legally obligated to allow GWI meter readers access to their water service meters as stipulated in the Water and Sewerage Act, 2002 and also that it is an offence to obstruct any GWI employee from gaining access to GWI’s apparatus. Acts such as this can result in prosecution.
The incident forms part of an overarching problem affecting GWI field employees who are experiencing heightened abuse by customers. Niles, according to the release has mandated that Customer Service Managers make contact with the Guyana Police Force regarding any incident in which customers threaten bodily harm or engage in excessive verbal abuse of any GWI employee.
