The Water and Sewerage Corporation has been losing about $13.2 million every year for the past five years, amounting to a deficit of $66 million. According to the W&SC chairman, Abraham Butler, on average, the corporation’s revenue covered only 85 percent of its operation and maintenance expenses.
“The level of non-revenue water stands at 50 percent,” he said. “Additionally, Water and Sewerage has been unsuccessful in increasing significantly its customer base, and its accounts payable has grown considerably.”
Mr. Butler said one of the main reasons the corporation has suffered so much over the years is primarily due to the absence of a key piece of legislation that would make it mandatory for homeowners to use the city water supply, as is the case with electricity and telecommunications. Instead, he said, Bahamians often take the opportunity to secure a private well.
The Chairman made the disclosure during a press conference on Thursday marking the signing of a new industrial contract between the Corporation and its union – the Bahamas Utilities Services and Allied Workers Union (BUSAWU).
He said the deficit has also been a stumbling block to a new industrial agreement.
Since 1997, BUSAWU members have been struggling to conclude contractual negotiations with the Corporation, to no avail. According to union president, Huedley Moss, during this time, the union has also been fighting for outstanding meal allowances, a matter that has since been resolved.
Pleased with the new 2-3 year agreement, Mr. Moss said although over the years the union has become famous for rewarding the unproductive, inefficient and the undedicated, times have now changed.
When workers were receiving a 17-35 percent increase in salaries, there was no FTAA, WTO, FATF and other international agencies to monitor the Bahamas. Similarly, he said, because the world macro market rules have changed workers, unions too must change if they are to survive and remain competitive.
“We must remove the walls of protectionism and replace it with healthy competition,” he said.
“We must eliminate compulsory gratuity and compulsory uniform increases in salaries and base such compensations on productivity, efficiency and improvement in the bottom line and the country’s rate of inflation. No longer should the government protect mediocrity. The country cannot afford to base such increases on emotions.”
It is against this background that the union president revealed his intentions to inform his members not to expect any compulsory increase in salary in the next three-year industrial agreement.
Mr. Moss added that while he realizes that BUSAWU’s gesture could never serve as a panacea for the concerns stakeholders have, it nonetheless is a giant step in paving the way for Bahamian workers to become competitive.
Supporting Mr. Moss’s views, Mr. Butler further pointed out that the Water and Sewerage Corporation’s success will now depend upon high-performing people working together.
Subsequently, he said, managers will now devise a performance plan for each employee, consisting of clear goals and performance standards, which will be assessed on a quarterly basis.
“Management’s primary responsibility now will be to manage the Corporation soundly, profitably and with adequate growth to serve the needs of customers and the general public,” Mr. Butler said. “Poor performers who fail to meet expectations and exhibit no desire to improve should not be supported and protected by the Union.”
ﾠMr. Butler added that the new industrial agreement would also permit the Corporation to attract, motivate and maintain high-performing people in all of its areas.
Having mediated discussions between the two parties over the years, Labour and Immigration Minister Vincent Peet said it is hoped that the new agreement will promote industrial goodwill and harmony between management and labour.
At the same time however, he encouraged Bahamian workers in both the public and private sectors to improve their level of productivity.
Higher productivity, he said, will enable our country to expand its capital worth and attract more investment, which will in turn lead to more employment opportunities and a higher standard of living for all Bahamians.
By Macushla Pinder, The Bahama Journal
