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by pltm
(PLTM) - Communications and Works Minister, Hon. Mark Vanterpool agrees with the Leader of the Opposition, Hon. Julian Fraser, that the unbearable water issue which continues to plague residents throughout the Territory is unsatisfactory. Minister Vanterpool said he understands the concerns being raised and does not blame Hon. Fraser.
"...Sea Cows Bay area, as you always hear from the Leader of the Opposition and the Member for the Third (Hon. Fraser), that he is not satisfied, and I cannot blame him, I am not satisfied either," the Minister said.
He indicated that they are working swiftly on making some major changes over the next three to six months to arrest the situation, "which none of us are pleased with, the water situation in the Territory. We want to be able to provide water consistently to all the areas in the Territory."
Minister Vanterpool said they are however very concerned about the amount of water that is being wasted in the Territory.
"So there is a special team that is being appointed to look at that over the next few months. We want to say in another year or so, that we have been able to reduce the water losses significantly to be better able to manage our financial side of that, as well as our billing at Water and Sewerage Department."
The Minister stressed that back in 2012, the department was some $2M behind in collection of fees.
"...But in our first year or two, it got to $6-7 million. We want to be able to get back to that point on the collection side. We have some major issues with metering and billing, mostly technical, not administrative," he said.
"...We are moving to modern meters, which can be read without being physically there...We have to improve water distribution throughout the Territory on a consistent basis."
The Minister admitted that he is now learning that the overall infrastructure programme for the Territory will not be completed overnight. "It's going to take years as I am learning, but we are going to keep working and to make it happen," he expressed.
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