By Devon Evons, Freelance WriterOCHO RIOS residents, objecting bitterly about the imposition of sewage charges to their water bills by the National Water Commission (NWC), have been granted a six- month waiver by Water and Housing Minister, Dr. Karl Blythe.
Following a request from President of the St. Ann Chamber of Commerce, Andrew Grant, on behalf of the residents, the Minister decided that he would withhold all sewage charges until the end of August. He made the announcement last Friday in Ocho Rios.
Since November last year, some residents and businesses of Ocho Rios have seen a 100 per cent increase in their water bills with the additional charges being sewage charges.
Blythe said those who are being charged and are not yet connected to the sewage system will not be refunded but will have the amount already paid credited to their bills.
The Minister warned, how-ever, that as of September 1, 2002, every premises located within 100 metres of the sewage main will be required under law to pay sewage bill whether it is connected or not.
In an attempt to justify the sewage charges which is 100 per cent of current water bills, he noted that in some countries, the sewage rates are twice the amount of the water bill. Dr. Blythe said the government has secured a "half a million dollar loan" to assist residents in meeting the cost of connecting their premises.
For over four years, the NWC has been sensitising the people of Ocho Rios about the importance of connecting their premises to the new sewage treatment scheme.
But the high cost of making the connection, coupled with the monthly fees each customer has to pay, has led to only a mere 26 of the over 1,000 property owners complying.
The cost of making the connection to the system range from a low of $50,000 to a high of $500,000, while the monthly rate is 100 per cent the amount on the water bill.
In an effort to get more people connected, NWC began imposing monthly charges on all residences and businesses with addresses on Main Street, Ocho Rios since November.
Although some of these premises are way beyond 100 metres of sewerage lines, as required by law.
For months, the Chamber has been trying to get the NWC to offer customers in Ocho Rios a waiver on the existing sewage charges, especially for those who are not yet connected to the system and who are receiving sewage charges on their bills. Failure to get a response from the NWC led the Chamber to seek the help of the Public Defender who then wrote the NWC on the matter.
Grant said that due to the mounting complaints from some business people the Chamber was planning to go public with the matter if it failed to get a response from the Minister.
He said he was satisfied with the response from Dr. Blythe and is hoping that it is acceptable to those who had been complaining.
