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[…] Barbados Water Authority, a KEY State Entity […]
Just as wide as the gulf that separates the BWA headquarters from the Castle Grant facility is the service meted out to the residents of St. Joseph. There is a different excuse for each day of the week. The one most commonly used “There is a problem at Golden Ridge and we cannot pump water to Castle Grant,” In a town hall meeting earlier this year residents were given the assurance that communication (if not service) would be better. This past Sunday the water was off in the districts of Surinam, Horse Hill, Burke’s Village, Vaughn’s Land and surrounding districts. Water was brought to the St. Joseph Primary School around 10:30 a.m. on Monday but the tank did not make its way to the affected districts. BWA wants us to believe that they had no knowledge of this outage. Service was restored around 10:00 p.m. on Monday, and in some instances in the early hours of Tuesday.
smart meters hmm. water bill gone to 5000$ hardly any water being used rainy isnt it, not much as far as explanation smells of money grab how about everyone else?
The Government has been overcharging for water since 2009 when they raised the water rate illegally by 60% in some cases, and to compound the disservice to customers, they introduced the smart meters that no on in this country can calibrate.
The BNSI approved these meters on the basis of a certificate from someone outside of Barbados which certified that they are accurate. Somehow, I have a tendency to smell fish when I am confronted with this type of transaction.
I am not so sure when the Castle Grant Reservoir was built. I recalled going into it sometime in the early ’50 and watching the water rushed into the holding tank from Golden Ridge pumping station. In those days the Reservoir and the grounds were kept in prestine conditions by the caretaker and foreman who lived on the property with his family. The rest of the crew manning the facility and distribution pipe lines, live mostly in the nearby villages of Branch Bury and Ginger Works, and always appear to be ready at short notice to deal with any problem that may arise. It was operated like a family business moreso than a government facility. They looked after it as if it were their own.
There are still a few stand pipes around, and like everything else these are woefully neglected. No longer are they serviced on a regular basis, and present a hazard to anyone using them especially at times when the normal flow of water to homes is shut off.
Most of the BWA’s water tankers are constructed of mild steel, instead of the preferred stainless steel which is a standard requirement in many countries,and mild steel corrodes very rapidly, and especially so above the water level. One has to ask the following question. Are these water tanks fitted with access hatches to facilitate regular internal cleaning and treatment by crews or other persons ?
Are the drivers of these tankers, trained in Hygiene.? Because it not unusual to see a driver, cock in hand, and pissing alongside the front of the truck,and then returning to handle the other pipe cocks.
Actually one of the water tankers is a dump truck, designed to transport construction quarry material ,where another cargo tray is welded in an inverted position above the original tray. And I ‘ve also seen a Sanitation Service Authority water tanker delivering drinking water to communities during a water outage. Imagine that.
Only in Barbados. Except for the one in Tudor Street, we have no other Standards in this country.
I am laughing at this situation with all the entities that every person in Barbados needs that’s controlled by the Government. SUCKS
I’m laughing because the reality to all these things seem to me that modern headquarters,or facilities are more import than SERVICE.
It’s simply mind boggling how the Government can find the money to build all these modern headquarters, but the services SUCKS. Plus the price is handed down to each and every citizen in Barbados.
Just continuing reading these different situations that comes up on the REGULAR, leaves me to feel that you must be like it, simply because you DON’T seem to DEMAND BETTER TREATMENT;
Why should anyone change, when all you provide is lip service about which PARTY done what, or should do what.
TO HELL WITH ALL OF THEM. STEP UP AND LET YOUR VOICES BE HEARD FOR ONCE IN YOUR LIVES. LET THE GOVERNMENT KNOW THAT ENOUGH IS ENOUGH, AND YOU WANT BETTER FOR THE MONEY THAT YOU ARE PAYING IN TAXES, PLUS THEIR SALARIES;
“STAND UP AND STOP ALLOWING THE PEOPLE THAT YOU’VE ELECTED TO WORK FOR YOU TREAT YOU LIKE SHIT;”
All of them seem to forget that in reality they are ALL PUBLIC SERVANTS, ELECTED BY THE PEOPLE TO WORK FOR THE PEOPLE.
BU always go back to the late Prime Minister’s address to the Barbados Water Authority delivered in 2009. It was a lovely speech filled with lofty expectations. The sensible thing to do in 2014 is to measure what has been achieved since that speech was delivered five years ago. We know the 60% hike went into effect but…?
http://barbadosunderground.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/pm-thompson-address-to-bwa.pdf
David
See if you can answer this question or at least make a guess.
Since 2009 when water rates were increased 60%, how much has the gross revenue of the BWA increased by each year?
@Postage Paid
Logical thought says gross revenue should be spiking.
Pricing is the single most powerful policy tool to alter water consumption patterns and users’ behavior. Numerous studies by the European Environmental Agency (EEA) have proven that price signals have a significant impact on water use by households. Indeed, water consumption generally correlates with water prices negatively.
This is water David Thompson and Dennis Lowe didn’t understand before making that decision in 2009. The consumption of water in Barbados post 2009 has decreased to the extent that even with the 60% increase in water rates, gross revenue of the BWA has fallen each and every year since.
@Postage
The officials at the BWA we hope has access to information to inform pricing decisions. It can’t be rocket science, water authorities exist all over the world.
the challenges for the bwa are many.
A wealthy businessman and self-described unrepentant capitalist explains that an increasingly deregulated capitalism (like what we are seeing today in some of the world’s leading economies) leads to increased concentrations of wealth in fewer and fewer hands which will eventually end up spelling trouble (i.e. outright police states or violent revolution) in any society.
Nick Hanauer: Beware, fellow plutocrats, the pitchforks are coming
The BWA leadership is expected to be in VOB studio from 12PM today.
Some BWA reps are at present on CBC taking questions from callers. A caller queried if people in the St Andrew area were being fed with untreated water from a spring in the Scotland District . He was informed that water was being pumped from the spring to households, but it was being treated at the ‘spring head’ (my term) with chemicals. This is a revelation indeed ,as most if not all Barbadians, are under the impression that our potable water source is solely from the underground aquifers after the water has passed through the natural coral stone filters. I recalled some years ago the question was raised why can’t arrangements be made by the Water Authority to pump and treat some of the water from the Harrison’s Cave to the distribution network . And it was said that much of the water in the cave has not passed through the aquifers and was therefore not suitable for drinking.
The moderator, Moreurine, piped in that , the spring head area in St Andrew is well secured. Probably as well secured as Castle Grant Reservoir, where there are no gates or security in place. But then again , the Licensing Authority was recently broken into, and I am sure that they have gates, fences ,maybe electronic security and a security guard or watchman on site..
David | October 8, 2014 at 10:39 AM |
The BWA leadership is expected to be in VOB studio from 12PM today
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Hope that the programme is more informative on VOB that it was on CBC this morning. As Maurine turned it into more of a GIS programmes.
Can you image a lady called in to report a long standing leaking BWA stand pipe, and advised that all it needs is a “washer”. Afterwards Maurine said that she was sorry not asking the woman “how she knows it needed a washer.” Maurine ,many of us who did not have the golden opportunity to attend a university,are gifted with a rare and dying commodity call COMMON SENSE.
The water price will have to go up again when the BWA’s new headquarters is occupied and they have to start making the payments to Innotech. The monthly cost is not far short of $1 million..
It could have been about 25% less if the contract payments had been renegotiated for the savings in the cost of duty and VAT which were included in the tender price but were not actually not paid by Innotech as the Government gave them a waiver.
Was very surprised to hear the BWU personnel confirm alternative energy option is 12 months away? BWU has an electricity bill of greater than 1 million no? Hope this is not a case of the government not wanting to negatively impact BL&P’s revenues.
The question was asked about BL&P power outages also affecting the BWA pumping station ,in the affected area, inability to function during these outages. Truth be told, the BWA had many portable generators for this purpose, and over the years due to the usual lack of maintenance, they all fell into disrepair.
@Mr. C
Spot on the mark. Hip Hip Hip……HOOORAY
From the corrupt BLP to the nefarious, insulting, insufferable clowns of the DLP, each of these corrupt parties are not interested in productivity or service; just the amount of money they can had in deals no matter how small. And to do so you got to build buildings, pave roads, refurbish and construct unnecessary and nonsensical crap like that over head pedestrian shite walk by CBC. How much money it cost again..$2.4 million. What is its purpose – to ensure that somebodies benefit from part payment of 2.4 million. If you doubt me ask Noel Lynch how much money it cost to buy a plantation on a politician salary.
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