THE EDITOR, Sir:
COULD YOU allow me to address Mr. J. Paul Morgan of the Office of Utilities Regulations through this medium:
Dear Mr. Morgan,
The NWC requested a 42 per cent increase in rates, and your office granted 26 per cent. Could you shed some light on people like myself who have to pay sewage also. For instance, if my water bill is $1,000, I also have to pay $1,000 for sewage. So Mister Morgan this '26 per cent' increase in real terms to me is 52 per cent.
Also, in granting this increase, you put forward the rationale that NWC needed this increase to upgrade the plant and to continue to ensure a high quality of the product. However, Mister Morgan, I did not hear you challenging them to be more efficient and to ensure to correct the many underwater leakages from its system, and to be more responsive to broken mains that run unabated until they are publicised on a talk show or television station before they are remedied.
I do not mind the increase, but I am objecting to the 26 per cent, instead it should be 13 per cent, as PAM (on the bill) makes the necessary adjustment for foreign exchange fluctuations. We need value for money and a transparent account of how the increase will be apportioned in the interest of the public and not be squandered in fat salaries for management. For too long we,
the public, have been taken for granted with regards to proper customer
service and accountability.
I am, etc.,
MICHAEL JOHNSON
man2196@netscape.net
Via Go-Jamaica
