Mr. Kissoon’s claims are a complete misrepresentation of the true situation

Aug 06, 2009 Letters

Dear Editor,
The unfortunate situation Mr. Freddie Kissoon refers to in his column entitled “One of the most horrible moments of my life”, published on July 27, 2009 in the Kaieteur News is testimony to the profound misuse by both domestic and commercial customers in the city of the aged sewerage system which was commissioned in 1929 to service about 20,000 residents.
We must have read or would have seen on television information referring to the significant increase of the population in Georgetown from the year 1929 to date. The effects of the constant development of roads around Georgetown have caused a number of manholes to fall below the road surface.
This, along with the theft of chamber covers, has resulted in flooding of the system during the rainy season with the concomitant overflowing of inspection chambers and gullies.

The deposit of inconceivable items into the sewerage system by many residents and commercial establishments in particular, contribute to premature systemic failures and inconvenience to residents.
The existing system consists of 24 pump stations of which 10 are currently in working order. The Guyana Water Inc is quite aware that the 10 pumps are barely adequate for effective removal of sewerage and Mr. Kissoon’s misinformation as it relates to only three operational pumps is a complete misrepresentation of the true situation.
These conditions are compounded by an increase in the number of restaurants and eating places in the city, some of which operate without the requisite grease traps being installed.
Mr. Kissoon did not mention in his column if the customer made a report to the Guyana Water Inc. We continue to urge customers to report faults to our Customer Services Hotline number 227-8701, for which a reference number would be issued.

With regard to Mr. Kissoon’s water bill, our policy is not usually to ventilate customers’ personal information in the media, but we will make this an exception because GWI has a responsibility to clear the air as it relates to misconceptions which can be derived from Mr. Kissoon’s statement in the media relating to his consumption and his perceived inaccurate GWI bill.
His queried bill for the period reflects actual consumption of 242 cubic meters at a rate of $112 per cubic meter which amounts to $27,104, a rebate of the estimated charges of $8,788 was applied to the account, leaving a balance of $18,316 which clearly proves Mr. Kissoon was not billed $18,316 for the period of one month as claimed in his article, but was billed the said amount for actual consumption for a period of nine months (August 2008 to May 2009).

I am happy to report Mr. Kissoon has visited our office and his query has been resolved by our knowledgeable Customer Services Representative.
We will like to urge other customers to follow his exemplary action by visiting our offices country wide to have their concerns addressed or they can call our Customer Services Hotline # 227-8701 for information about their bills and to file fault reports.
As citizens we are the custodians of our water and sewerage system and must therefore contribute towards safeguarding the integrity of the networks.
Rawle Aaron
Public Relations Officer