Grenadines residents told to pay up

Residents in the Grenadines are being encouraged to pay the fee charged for the collection and disposal of garbage.This is the word coming from officials at the Central Water and Sewerage Authority (CWSA) who say that only a fraction of Grenadine residents and businesses pay the environmental fee.{{more}}

“We have had real problems from the Grenadines getting people to pay,” Joan Ryan, Public Relations and Marketing Manager at CWSA, told members of the media last Friday, April 15, at a press conference.

“We would like to appeal to persons to pay the fee as it will continue to assist persons there,” she continued.

To date only 19 per cent of Grenadine residents have been complying and paying the fee since it was instituted in the Grenadines in 2002, Ryan explained.

Although the fee was introduced for residents in the Grenadines some nine years ago, collection of the fee in the islands did not begin until 2004, according to Ryan. The collections problem warranted a session between CWSA officials and the residents of Bequia last Monday, April 11, as part of the organization’s week of activities.

Ryan said the objective of the session was to explain how important it is to pay the fee.

“During discussions, persons were very shocked at the service,” Ryan said, adding that it was noted that while domestic customers pay $8 on the mainland with collection once per week, the domestic rate for Grenadine residents was $5, and collection is done twice per week.

The fee appears by itself on a bill from the CWSA for Grenadine residents, but is incorporated into the total figure that appears on the water bills for residents on the mainland. Meanwhile, Garth Saunders, General Manager of CWSA, said that the reason why the fee had not been fully imposed on residents in the Grenadines is because they do not supply pipe bourne water to those locations.

“We have been subsidizing solid waste management services in the Grenadines to the tune of $1.5 million annually and have only been recovering 20 percent of that,” Saunders said.

“This is something we have to take a deep look at, as it hinders the ability to expand services,” he continued.

According to Saunders, the CWSA is exploring the possibility of commissioning a desalination plant for there to be a constant supply of pipe borne water to residents in the Grenadines which would be an expensive project.

But because of the need to subsidize the cost of waste collection and management, this could not be facilitated he said. (DD)