KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent – The Central Water and Sewerage Authority (CWSA) has not asked the government to increase its subvention to the company as consumers here will next month begin paying at least EC$5 more for water and waste disposal services.
“… we can’t do that unless we accurately measure. But we also need to know what our losses are,” Garth Saunders, chief executive officer of the CWSA, said yesterday.
He said that school should have water meeting.
“… head teachers need to know that we are wasting water. Public facilities, public buildings, they have leaks, the leaks get reported and they are not fixed. And we are supplying treated water to these facilities and that is one of the challenges we have at CWSA: ensuring that we get the cooperation of the maintenance divisions of these buildings and to assist especially during the high season to reduce the impact,” he said.
The government gives the CWSA an annual subvention of EC$1.4 million for water but Saunders said that government facilities use between EC$4 million and EC$5 million worth of water every year, much of which is wasted.
“… what the government pays us as a contribution to the supply of services is certainly not anywhere near the value of the actual amount supplied.”
He said that the company’s meter replacement project would help to determine “what is being delivered to say to the government what is being presented to the CWSA should be increased”.