UPP blasts BWA disconnection threats

NOT so fast!

Those strong words have come from the United Progressive Party (UPP) in response to reports that the Barbados Water Authority (BWA) was threatening to disconnect consumers who have not paid the controversial Garbage and Sewerage Contribution (GSC), which went into effect in August 2018.

In a statement yesterday, the UPP maintained that access to water was a right and that “Barbados is a member of the United Nations (UN). On 28 July 2010, through Resolution 64/292, the UN General Assembly explicitly recognised the human right to water and sanitation and acknowledged that clean drinking water and sanitation were essential to the realisation of all human rights.

“The Resolution called upon Member States and international organisations to provide financial resources, help capacity-building and technology transfer to help countries, in particular developing countries, to provide safe, clean, accessible and affordable drinking water and sanitation for all”.

Last Friday, during a press conference in the Committee Room of Parliament, Minister of Energy and Water Resources, Wilfred Abrahams, and Chairman of the BWA, Leodean Worrell, indicated that disconnection of water services was a possibility. The Chairman revealed at that press conference that arrears to the BWA currently total approximately $15 million; while there has been a 40 per cent reduction in revenue coming to the Authority since the introduction of the GSC.

The point was made then that the BWA has responsibility for collecting the GSC which appears on the water bills. “It is not a BWA tax, but a mechanism by the Ministry of Finance, and all that is happening is the BWA is the collection agency for it. However, what has been happening is that people are paying their water bills and have been shying away from paying the tax, to the point that they are in arrears to the BWA.

“If the GSC is not paid then your water bill is short by that amount, and when those arrears increase your service will be disconnected,” the Minister said.

“And I am saying now that unless you apply for get relief through the Relief Board, your decision for not paying the GFC is illegal, and if water is disconnected, please do not call me!” he advised.

The UPP blasted that pronouncement. "The United Progressive Party (UPP) believes that the threat coming from the BWA that it will cut off the water supply to households which do not pay the tax is the most draconian and highhanded approach to taxation that one has ever seen in the history of Barbados. For decades now most homes in Barbados have had access to water at a reasonable price.”

The UPP has also maintained that based on its best estimation, the BWA Act does not provide for a penalty for non-payment of the tax in question, which it maintained is typical for tax legislation, and called for the measure to be repealed. “Government should never require a Social Services Act to do the work of a Taxing Statute. Our legal team is reviewing this situation and will escalate to the Law Courts if required”.

The point was made that the tax was not well thought out. “Essentially, the BWA has now been placed within the realm of a government tax collector, but outside the purview of the Barbados Revenue Authority (BRA). One would recall that the BRA was established in order to create greater efficiency in the collection of taxes. Both BLP and DLP administrations had a hand in it…

“If you are a poor person with one pipe running to the house with no water borne sewage facilities, you pay the same as a family of five with six bedrooms, washing machine, dishwasher and a pool who entertain frequently. This smacks of a certain degree of callousness and disregard for the particular circumstances of our citizens. The imposition of this tax was not well thought through, as was the case with the transition from the road tax to a tax on fuel; the removal of NSRL; and the tax on online transactions,” they argued.

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