Frequent and prolonged water shortages, particularly in the downtown area, have left some business managers fuming and wondering when it will all end.
Two weeks ago, the Water and Sewerage Corporation was forced to tighten its water restrictions in order to build critically low water reserves, creating frustrations for customers throughout New Providence.
It’s an inconvenience that Attorney Sidney Collie’s law office could do without.
“We run a law firm,” Office Manager Mavis Johnson-Collie said Wednesday. “We have male and female employees. We have clients coming through the office, and so it is extremely embarrassing and inconvenient when you are hoping to use the water supply in the bathroom or the kitchen and there is no water…and no warning. And this happens several times a week for several hours, the most recent was Tuesday around midday,” she said.
She added that in some cases, employees have even had to use facilities elsewhere.
“This is a problem that is not acceptable to have, downtown particularly, where the heart of this country’s economy resides,” said Mrs. Collie, wife of Sidney Collie, who is also Deputy Leader of the Free National Movement.
“My basic concern is that the Corporations – be it Water & Sewerage, BaTelCo or BEC – fail to properly advise clients individually on these issues, particularly considering that when there is a problem with my payment, there is no hesitation in sending someone to my residence or business place and shutting me off, sometimes in a very rude way. So, if they operate on this end where it concerns receiving payment, I think I should get the same individualized attention when it comes to receiving my service.
One downtown restaurant manager added that his business suffered interrupted water supplies two consecutive days this week, during peak hours of the day.
During this time, he said, hostesses were forced to apologise to more than 20 customers, who were given bottled water and napkins to clean their hands. He said employees also had to do the same.
“This was not only annoying, but very unsanitary,” the restaurant manager said.
Keith Brice, who manages Twin Brothers Restaurant on Parliament Street, meanwhile, was equally as annoyed, even though he admitted that the business was not significantly affected by the water shortage.
“I would really like for the Water and Sewerage Corporation to repair the damages as soon as possible because our business is getting ready for the peak of everything,” he said. “We recently opened and we really need the water. We can’t simply turn tourists down because of this. It doesn’t look nice at all.”
Mr. Brice, who is a resident of Chippingham, said he has also had water shortages at home.
Since the water shortages started about two weeks ago, the Corporation has faced another setback following a leaking storage tank at the Prospect Ridge Pumping Station.
According to Godfrey Sherman, deputy general manager of the Water and Sewerage Corporation, the situation should be under control by Friday.
Mr. Sherman added though that a water barge will also be on dry dock for routine repairs next week, during which time a reduction in the water supply may continue.
However, he said, the Corporation has already decided on some interim measures to produce additional water in local well fields.
The Water & Sewerage Corporation currently pumps 8.6 million gallons of water per day, a slight reduction from its normal daily pumping capacity of 9 million gallons of water.
Mr. Sherman said he was advised all consumers who are not satisfied wit the Corporation’s service to phone in with their complaints.
But he also advised them to pay their bills on time.
By Macushla Pinder, The Bahama Journal
