The BU household commiserates with the people of St.Joseph and the neighbouring parishes who have had to endure extended periods without water. One can only imagine the physical and emotional challenges brought about by the inability of the authorities to deliver potable water.
BU will continue to highlight the matter until there is redress. To be without water for a few hours is an inconvenience, to have intermittent access to for weeks and months is criminal and points to a lack of planing an inept management. The BU household, on behalf of the government of Barbados, apologizes for the poor service being delivered to Barbadian households in St. Joseph an elsewhere.
107 responses to “Josephines, We Feel Your Pain”
There is incompetence in every ministry, starting with the heads of each ministry…..bottomline, they do very little or nothing to earn their salaries, perks….they do whatever it takes to earn their bribes and kickbacks.
Here is another example of stupidity by heads of ministries.
http://www.nationnews.com/nationnews/news/85509/bas-poultry-ban
The people, the people, the people have to be the ones to say enough, there is a time when talking is no longer enough…….. stop buying the imported chicken, buy your chicken from your neighborhood small growers…..send a message, leave their chicken to spoil in the supermarkets, if 100,000 households kn the island stop buying their garbage…it will put them out of business…they need you more than you need them….people know how to survive..
Dumbville will no longer be able to collect bribes for allowing inferior quality chicken to flood the market.
The people have to start putting their foot down somewhere….where the government goes from there, is their problem, not the people’s.
Agree with MP Marshall that until the BWA and Minister Estwick are able to solve this problem the community tanks should be kept filled 24/7.
>
@David, I think all can agree with your remark that “The BWA will respond to you by saying that the old metres were old and inaccurate and likely explain the difference in billing. It is why they had to be changed.”
It is also very correct that “We elect governments to set policy to deal with an issue like this one. The obvious incompetence exhibited to date merits the kind of public outrage we are seeing in Barbados. Our democracy demands citizen advocacy.”
What is difficult to understand however are the remarks attributed to MP Dale Marshall. He is a very experienced lawyer and wealthy man and certainly is in position to challenge the BWA re ” …People ought only to pay for a service that they receive!” Maybe he is.
But this is the type of matter that young turks or even old warriors can make their presence felt. Your citizen advocacy.
In that sense AC’s screed about the past regimes is mildly sensible -only just tho. MP Marshall and the many politicos seem afraid of addressing this matter in the robust and direct way needed. It is as if they don’t want to expose theie own naked backsides for fear of getting lashes too!
I would ask Mr Marshall in his own words: ‘How much would it take for [him to demand] the BWA to say to these families, that the metre rental should be waived on behalf of Bajans’
As usual they all seem to be in a cluster gang-bang of mutual tom-foolery with mirrors all around! (all puns and innuendos to be freely made)
@ David
I am not aware that these are “Smart Meters” ie able to be read remotely. I may of course be wrong. As digital meters they will have been set at manufacturing and inspected/tested to ensure that they were within a very tight tolerance.
Analogue meters rely on moving parts to sense and measure flow. They cannot distinguish between water and air. Digital meters use flow sensors that can distinguish between air/water and only react to/measure water.
I have no connection to BWA except as a customer but would rather have an up to date digital meter than some museum piece analogue meter.
@ bookworm
ANALOGUE meters will measure air flow. DIGITAL meters will not.
Elementary physics is your friend!
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Perhaps you can share with the BU family, the ‘elementary physics’ involved in measuring water flow volume using digital technologies….
For example, do they count the number of water molecules passing an electrostatic plate per second? or is it based on pressure differences across a fixed distance in the pipe….? or what..?
This sound a lot like the digital “bomb detection devices” that were sold to Iraq forces by the Americans after they has destroyed that country….. a big scam.
BTW
Any idiot can ‘calibrate’ such a meter…
All you need to do is take the meter reading; turn on the water and collect the water in a tank; then turn off the water and compare the volume recorded by the meter with the amount of water actually collected in the tank.
@ Dribbler
Marshall would never challenge something like that in court. He knows better than most what a waste of time (and of his money) such action would be in our dead court system.
Now if YOU offered to pay him to do so…THAT would be a different story altogether…
Only idealists like Come-and-sing-a-song would consider such actions.
@Bush Tea
Sometimes fear of new things makes you suspicious. These meters have nothing to do with and nothing in common with the mine detection scam.
If you need to know in detail how they work then Google is your answer.
“BTW
Any idiot can ‘calibrate’ such a meter…
All you need to do is take the meter reading; turn on the water and collect the water in a tank; then turn off the water and compare the volume recorded by the meter with the amount of water actually collected in the tank.”
That is NOT calibration, it is a crude test of the meter function only suitable for idiots.
Not every change is designed to rob us of our hard earned but we are so used to the cheats,liars and scammers on our rock that we cannot accept progress.It was probably the same during the change from donkey carts to motor cars here in Bim!
These digital meters are manufactured in Germany by a company of international reputation and I for one am happy to have one installed.
BTW Bushy. The mine detectors were not sold by the Americans, it was a Brit who came up with that scam.
I’M AH JOSEPHINE AND KNOW THE SUFFERINGS THERE, NOW THIS GOVERNMENT (BWA) ENTER AN AGREEMENT WITH AH CANADIAN COMPANY IN 2013 NAME CANADIAN COMMERCIAL CORPORATION FOR AH LOAN OF 58MILLION US DOLLARS THAT WE TAX PAYERS HAVE TO PAY BACK, THEN THE CCC CONTRACTED ANOTHER CANADIAN COMPANY, CO-WATERS & SOGEMA TO MANAGE OUR SYSTEMS HERE. BUT U SEE WHATS HAPPENING HERE? BARBADOS SIGN THE AGREEMENT BUT THE MONIES SEEMS TO BE SPENDING BACK IN CANADA, THATS WHY THIS PISSY GOVMENT WILL HAVE TO SCRAPE EVERY CENT TO PAY BACK, NO WONDER THE … OF BWA SAID; DON’T BE SURPRISE IF OUR WATER BILL COMES OUT FOR 500.00 DOLLARS. WHILE THEM BACK IN CANADA ENJOYING THE FATTED CALF, , JUST LIKE, BIZZY,COW, MALONY, INNOCTEC, JADA GROUP THANKS TO THE NEW WHITE NIGGERS IN PARLIAMENT. WELL AS FOR ME THIS….THIS BRAND NEW DLP STANDS FOR THE DEMONIC LYING PARTY, CAN KISS MY BLACK GR –ASS, SO IS THE 50TH INDEPENDENCE, NATIONAL ANTHEM, PLEDGE AN WHAT EVER ELSE, BUNCH AH RETARDED, INEPT, DISGRACEFUL,DISTASTEFUL, UNTRUSTWORTHY, SOLID WASTE SCUM BAGS.
@ David,
“We elect governments to set policy to deal with an issue like this one. The obvious incompetence exhibited to date merits the kind of public outrage we are seeing in Barbados. Our democracy demands citizen advocacy.”
There is no sane person who would disagree with that.
In other words can not put new wine in old bottles like those of the bush sh.it making
Those meters are used world wide. The issue being that when the mains are completed the water flow would become more efficient and households who might have been subjected to paying high bills because of leakage would find a reduction. However on the other hand those who paid little or nothing because of slow flow through the pipe line because of corrosion might find a somewhat suttle increase in their bills.just check the amount of money owed to the BWA which is not yet currant based on usage and the inability of customers to pay
@ bookworm
It seems that you eat books …rather than read them.
Calibration is about establishing a comparison with a standard measure. The simple process outlined (did not expect to have to spell it out…) will give the meter reading in comparison to the actual volume of water dispensed.
For example…
if the tank contains 1000 gallons and the meter reads 1010 gallons, then ‘calibration’ means adjusting the meter by a factor of 1000/1010.
if on the other hand, the meter reads 980 gals when the tank contains 1000 gals, then the ‘calibration factor becomes 1000/980.
The same thing could apply to the old mechanical meters …and could have been done on a routine basis in Barbados to keep accuracy as high as possible….rotating meters in for testing every five years or so….
Can you at least tell us how long the battery in the digital meter will last…and who will change it when it dies….?
Everyone knows that this meter scam is just another ploy to get millions of taxpayers’ dollars into someone’s greedy hands….
If you did not get the point about the bomb detection devices (money scam) then there is no point in pursuing this discussion…
LOL ….thanks for the idea to use google.
…but Bushie did not really ask you because he does not know the answer… and it is interesting to note that you have no idea how they work, but because a German designed it you are ‘happy to have it installed’….
Not stinking Bushie though….
WE SITTING/STANDING ON WATER GALORE IN BARBADOS..ST.ANDREW, ST.JOSEPH, ST.JOHN FULL OF SPRINGS ALONE, WHAT ABOUT ST. THOMAS WHERE HARRISON CAVE, POREY SPRING, COLES CAVE WATER STARTS AND END? GREENLAND FULL OF WATER, WHERE THE DUMP WAS SUPPOSE TO PUT, THAT WATER COULD FEED THROUGH ANDREW & JOSEPH TOO, THEN U HAVE SPRING FIELD, SPRING HEAD, SPRING VALE, AH SPRING THERE IN FARLEY HILL, BEN SPRING, TO NAME AH FEW, AN SOME TIME BACK WANNA WANTED TO IMPORT WATER FROM DOMINICA, WHEN THAT THOMPSON WAS ALIVE. THE ONLY THING THIS DEMONIC LYING PARTY COULD DO IS BLAME, BLAME, BLAME, SHAMEFUL…HAHAHAHA NOW YA HEAR FROOMS DON’T BLAME ME, AG SAMETHING,JONES, IN–NISS SINK-LIAR, PESTWICK, BYER, MC–CLEAN ALL DEM WID DE SAME SHIT…………BUT THE PEOPLE IN THIS COUNTRY WOULD NOT GET UP, THATS WHY THEY ARE DOING AS DUM LIKE.
Bushie
The Germans manufactured the meters and then the Germans gave a certificate to the BNSI declaring that they are accurate, and that is good enough for bookeater.
Sent from my iPad
LOL @ AC
Your 8.48 AM is probably the most idiotic contribution you have ever made on BU….and that is no mean feat…everything you say is wrong…
…Leakage in BWA mains does not affect customer meter readings
…Those with slow/no flow are still being billed by BWA in St Andrew
…Arrears are high because management is piss poor
…Were those ‘free connections’ in the St Peter upscale development ever paid…?
…Customer are unable to pay because Stinkliar and the DLP have them all broke
@ Caswell
There are people in Barbados making MILLIONS of dollars changing meters as we speak…
We should not be surprised that some of us are ‘happy’ with the project….
Bushie is still awaiting a response from someone….about the life of the batteries in these meters – and about the plan to change all 100,000 when they die….
@ Bush Tea
I think that I will just leave you to your paranoia. I am happy with my digital meter.
What you proposed was NOT calibration,you have since added the piece about adjusting the meter though how you propose to go about it is unclear. Also unclear is how you measure the volume of water used, is it a line drawn on a container? What about the accuracy of measurement of the water volume? How do you ensure that EVERY DROP of water is measured? It is clear that you are not an engineer.
I am done with this futile discussion now, it is a good job that you were not around when the wheel was invented!
@ Caswell
I really expected better from you. If you are so convinced that the meters are inaccurate then put up or shut up. At your expense get some tested by an independent laboratory off island.
Otherwise it looks as if you blowing hot air to make mischief!
Good response !BW forget that ole shoe bush sh..it ever since the design of the shoe lace .he has been arguging that disciple sandals were better
“Bush Tea September 15, 2016 at 9:11 AM #
@ Caswell
There are people in Barbados making MILLIONS of dollars changing meters as we speak…”
A sweeping statement without a shred of proof. Show us where and by who these MILLIONS are being made.
For Gods sake, there is a lot wrong with the BWA but I really do not think that the meter change over is one of them.
Bookworm
You should realise by now that I don’t know everything and I rely on people who I trust to provide me with information.
BNSI is the only authority in Barbados to certify measuring equipment so when I hear from them that the certification process for these smart meters was flawed, I am tempted to believe them rather than someone who hides behind a pseudonym called “Bookworm”.
Sent from my iPad
Bookworm
Did the company that is contracted to change the meters exist before the meter project?
Sent from my iPad
@ Bookworm
I of late have realized that certain discourses with certain people are waste foopisms and consume heartbeats which, one gone, cannot be recalled.
You are a fellow who will say a thing BUT once you are shown the folly of that pronouncement you do no persist with that folly.
I’d like you to understand that hardware, software and midware CAN BE COMPROMISED read purposely calibrated incorrectly like the scales of a vendor in Fairchild Street.
I want you to google Lawsuit against Kronos software and Dell.
Actually lawsuits against software skimming should indicate how the teifing at the Barbados Water Authority can be occurring like the skimming at the National Insurance Scheme and not even the chief Accountant nor the Auditor General will know about it.
“Sales representatives at a Dell call center in Oregon have filed a class action against the computer maker, alleging that they have been routinely and willfully underpaid for their work.”
The software at the back office of Kirton Gas Station in St Philip has for years been used to trick the attendants so that their till WILL NEVER BALANCE OUT and the new employees will always have to pay the shortfall for the benefit of office staff!!!
In the crudest of terms it is like gotting a girl friend who does mek you “arrive” without touching you “there”
Now here is the real issue about this my man Bookworm.
Which of dem 1100 lawyers or BNSI staff or WTF as in whoever the f, you can identify at the Fear Trading Commission can (a) formulate such a claim (b) definitively confirm such a claim and (c) prosecute such a claim.
And then even if all of the above were, incredibly, to be en vogue, which sitting judge got de necessary grey matter to rule pun dat issue.
Whu my man, none uh dem, including the FTC, got de balls to prosecute Slime for robbing people when dem give you a wrong number.
Let me explain. you are entitled to 2 free number listings from Slime a month right?
When Slime gives you one wrong number do you get a credit?
No sir, not one cent but there is no mechanism by which said teifing and software skimming can be ascertained by Sandra and de rest uh de peeple dem at de Fear Trading place.
Look my man Jeff up there now so things may be different but, to all intents and purposes, be it analogue or digital, you and I does get “BUTT” (dat is Stinkliar new word so I going use um) we does get butt out every day AND WE LIKING IT.
St. Joseph should declare independence from the colonial rule of Bridgetown. LOL
@bookwork
BU hastily point you to the Special Report done by the Auditor General to test the veracity of your 9:11AM comment.
Look one can expect the same pronunciations from PDYR and this lot of political yahoos who see progress as the boggey man hiding in every corner. Never mind the sembalance of efficiency which progress delivers.
@bookworm
One does not have to be an engineer to understand what Bush Tea has posited read calibration.
@All
What we are witnessing unfolding with this water crisis in St. Joseph and neighbouring parishes is a public lack of confidence in the management of the BWA. Even the PRO Joyann Haig has been hiding from the airwaves in recent weeks. This is an embarrassment to the country of a tall order. Josephines over the years have received spotty water service but it has never reached crisis proportions. We need to fix the damn problem IF temporarily. These are taxpayers and the BWA has a mandate in law to supply potable water to ALL citizens. If the lot in positions cannot get the job done please VACATE!
@Caswell Franklyn September 15, 2016 at 9:34 AM #
“Bookworm
You should realise by now that I don’t know everything and I rely on people who I trust to provide me with information.
BNSI is the only authority in Barbados to certify measuring equipment so when I hear from them that the certification process for these smart meters was flawed, I am tempted to believe them rather than someone who hides behind a pseudonym called “Bookworm”.”
If this is indeed so then no doubt there is an official document to that effect? And if it is so then why has nothing been done to stop the installation of flawed meters by BWA? And if it is so, how exactly is the certification flawed?
@ David
I would imagine that this is carried out during the testing and setup at the manufacturer.
The issue is really not the meters but the seeming inability of a developed nation in 2016 to provide 300,000 citizens with a reliable and constant supply of water.
That is the question that needs addressing.
@bookwork
Agree with your last comment. We need to breakout long and short term solutions. Pipe laying is obviously long term. The minister indicated a few months ago that the temporary desal plants leased from Israel along with the wells at Sweet Vale would have served as a temporary solution.
@ the Honourable Blogmaster
There is a potential flaw in that test since, depending on where the “flow meter” is attached, the water that has passed the flow meter may not be the water measured, given what remains in the tube.
But the principle is understood and is sound, btw the gauge has the word “weighted” which suggests that the gauge is not a reputable one, sorry occupational hazard
@ AC
You said
“Never mind the sembalance of efficiency which progress delivers…”
The word is semblance not sembalance.
The sentence in its entirety conveys “incompleteness” which is certainly not what you want to say.
Nonetheless it is fuel for my 125mm cannon insofar that with all of the desalination plants across the breath of the cuntry, miss cuntry first, observers might have hoped that, instead of a “sembalance “, your government would have been able to achieve the actuality of efficient and effective water supply.
But then again, as “Shadows of Ministers”, you can only deliver semblances
PDYR u can put your corrective measures in action and be of good use by actively
joining the bandwagon of goodwill supporters engaged in sending help to the drought stricken areas of St.Joseph. trying to be a grammatical blog policeman is not worth the effort and does no good to help the people of St. Joseph idiot
Thanks for the video David.
That is just a fancy machine that does basically what Bushie suggested.
@ Piece
Assuming that the test started with water already in the tubes, you concern is compensated.
@ bookwork
The issue is really not the meters but the seeming inability of a developed nation in 2016 to provide 300,000 citizens with a reliable and constant supply of water.
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True.
…But what if the reason for the inability to provide a reliable and constant water supply stems from valuable resources having been diverted to build a $60M palace, to award meaningless multi-million dollar contracts to ‘change meters’ …when there are no benefits to the system?
Do you think that $10M out of that $60M spent to upgrade rural reservoirs- and the main transmission pipes connecting them, would have had a better impact on the efficiency of the BWA? …Have you seen the reservoirs? How do you justify space age meters and stone age reservoirs?
@ Caswell
As you well know, any ‘Laws’ requiring that BNSI test measuring equipment are only applicable where Government ministers have no vested interests….
Leadership is required in every single thing we do.
For example David Davis who has led a water drive for several months now just called the radio to advise only bottle water can be transported to ensure water quality.
@ ac
PDYR u can put your corrective measures in action and be of good use by actively
joining the bandwagon of goodwill supporters engaged in sending help to the drought stricken areas of St.Joseph.
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Do you understand what you are saying…?
What manner of men can collect MILLIONS in taxes and rates every year…and not be filled with SHAME (in our 50th anniversary of Independence,) to have advocates for the homeless seeking pledges from already overtaxed citizens…. just to get some clean water to fellow citizens in St Joseph….
Shiite man!!!
In wunna place, Bushie would hang his head in abject SHAME and look for some kinda lens upon which to fall accidentally…..
It is the ULTIMATE SHAME…. especially when viewed from that vantage point next to CBC….
It is commendable to hear about Barbadians everywhere mobilizing to assist the water needs of the affected parts of the country.
HOWEVER it is an embarrassment to have to listen to what is unravelling.
It would seem , like that is true
@ bookwork – sorry, missed these points you raised..
What you proposed was NOT calibration,you have since added the piece about adjusting the meter though how you propose to go about it is unclear. Also unclear is how you measure the volume of water used, is it a line drawn on a container? What about the accuracy of measurement of the water volume? How do you ensure that EVERY DROP of water is measured? It is clear that you are not an engineer.
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….Bushie mistakenly assumed that the followup on calibration was obvious….
…The ‘meter adjustment’ could be as simple a matter of stamping the ‘calibration factor’ on the meter and inserting the figure into the customer database so that future readings would be corrected by by that factor…. or simply reconditioning the meter until the factor was 1.
…to measure the volume of water, all you need to do is fill a prescribed container to a prescribed level, at a prescribed temperature (if you want to be picky)
…and if it is clear to you that Bushie is ‘not an engineer’ then you may have missed the last ten years on BU …where the bushman has been talking of his adoption by the Big Boss Engineers BBE…… so at least Bushie have ‘engineer-families… 🙂
LOL
ha ha ha
I am so happy that my life and those of my relatives are not dependent on the incompetents in the various ministries, starting with the ministers…this is tantamount to torture of the citizens that the government can get NOTHING right…yet they collect a salary.
@ Bush Tea
The inability to supply goes deeper than the over the top offices. It is something endemic to Barbados. There is no preventative maintenance. Things are allowed to run until they break when a few dollars spent maintaining would have been the better option. Look at the roads,the buildings,the buses,the garbage collection. All run into the ground and costing your millions to replace.The reservoirs are a case in point and I believe that the pumping stations are in a dire state.There is no sense of pride and ownership, everything is someone else responsibility.
Have you heard the way the heart is reved out of the diesel engines in the buses and garbage trucks? No wonder they break.
I am ranting now but just wait, the promised “new” second hand garbage trucks will be scrap within one year of service.
Given the critical nature of the water problem in Barbados we look forward to a post cabinet press briefing today.
#weliveinhope
Maybe they will cancel the new National Monument and 50 years fiasco to provide funds for the water?
Dream on,dream on!
Even VOB seems to have got the memo and have somewhat decided to distance itself from the political hogwash after several weeks of encouraging and entertaining the underbelly of political yardfowls that were hell bent in dividing the country on what should have been a humanatarian effort sending the word to that of having all hands on board to seek resolution
The technical and mechanical aspects are all directed by man power which would run into problems of all kind and one must not forget that the laying of new pipelines is a tedious and long processs with problems which can hamper beyond man’s control with weather being a big concern
The politicization of the water shortage had it tenactles attached to a shameless opposition who should now better
The next issue to blow up will be the garbage problem. As usual minister Donville is quick out of the blocks to offer criticism about the garbage collection. Also there was comment from a tourism official about the feedback coming back from tourists about the need to improve in this area.
The pipelines did not suddenly fail,it took years. Politicians, and I use the term loosely, of both parties are culpable. They could have used the money from the boom years to start the renewal program instead of wasting it and waiting until we had waterspouts from fractured mains on every corner.
Stop blaming everyone else and take responsibility whatever party you are.
Do not start me on the garbage……………….
And this is the point. The BLP was booted out and the DLP is expected to lead. Instead you have to listen to their yardfowl supporters pointing to what the BLP did not do. Here is one thing for sure, the DLP can kiss St. Joseph, St. Andrew and St. Thomas goodbye. Let us see how Queen Mara performs.
@colonel buggy
Are you able to shed light on the reports that Castle Grant has been leaking for years?
IN LIGHT OF ALL THE FAILURES OF GOVERNMENT IN OUR COUNTRY, I MOVE THAT THE CITIZENS SHOULD BOYCOTT THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS
FROM WHERE I STAND, IT SEEMS THAT THINGS IN BARBADOS TODAY ARE IN VERY MANY WAYS WORSE THAN THEY WERE IN 1966