Minister Abrahams: Crackdown coming

As the Barbados Water Authority (BWA) continues to grapple with the issue of illegal connections, those culprits are being warned that the State utility will be cracking down on that practice and using the long arm of the law where necessary.

Word of this has come from Minister of Energy and Water Resources, Wilfred Abrahams, as he spoke to members of the media yesterday afternoon following the commissioning ceremony of the 381 kilowatt system Grantley Adams International Airport (GAIA) Solar Photovoltaic System at the Engineering Department of the GAIA Inc., at Charnocks, Christ Church. According to the Minister, between 40 and 60 per cent of the water provided by the BWA cannot be accounted for and he said while some of that non-revenue water (NRW) is as a result of breakages in the distribution system, a fair amount is lost by way of illegal water connections. He said while he does hope the BWA does not have to resort to the law to put an end to the practice, they are willing to do so, to ensure the integrity of the water supply.

“We keep finding illegal water connections and we have been very decent with people so far… There has been no real prosecution taking place,” he said.

Minister Abrahams went on to say, that while in the past only persons who owned the land or had permission from the landlord could apply for a water connection, that policy has now been changed and he maintained people now have no excuse for having illegal connections. He disclosed that anyone can now apply for a water service, noting that measures have been put in place to protect the BWA and the owners of the land.

“Anybody now can apply for and be granted a water service. There is no reason now to have an illegal connection. So I expect the Water Authority to start cracking down in a major way on people who persists in this behaviour, who have had every chance now to regularise themselves and if it has to involve the police, because it is a criminal action, then it has to involve the police,” he maintained.

The water resources minister explained that people who take it upon themselves to connect illegally to the system are putting themselves and the country’s entire water supply at risk. He explained that such connections where they are not properly done, can result in contaminants infiltrating the system.

“In many instances where the illegal connection is done it is not servicing just one household, it is servicing a number of households, or a number of pieces of land; so even from the one source of that connection you might put numerous people at risk, in doing so. There is a reason you apply for a water service and there is a reason it is connected by the Water Authority,” he contended. (JRT)