It was revealed that Government is owed millions of dollars in water arrears by the general consumers.
This was revealed in the Public Accounts Committee’s Report on the Infrastructure Services Sector, 2006.
The report stated that since the late 90s, the Department of Water under the Ministry for Works and Energy was in a ‘state of flux’ as it was due for corporatisation.
As a result, most necessary strategies and changes were not implemented.
The report highlighted a staggering $27.8 million in arrears owed to Government - with $15.4 million pending for over five years.
It stated a total of $27,844,032 was accumulated in 2006 - an increase of 10 percent from 2005.
It said that a developer at Denarau Island, namely Tabua Investment Ltd incurred $338,079 at the end of 2005.
However, Tabua Investments disputed the bill and refused the payment of $432,853, which was written-off by the Department of Water without the approval of the Ministry of Finance.
The report also highlighted that the villagers of Tamavua haven’t paid their water and sewerage bills, claiming that the reservoirs are built on their land.
The villagers claimed that arrangements were made with the Ministry, which entitled them to free service.
However, it was discovered that only five were entitled to free service, but there wasn’t enough evidence to substantiate any such claim.
The report also stated some claimed concessions for their residence outside Tamavua village together with outsiders.
The report highlighted anomalies in disconnection and reconnections of water metres.
It said that defaulting consumers consistently fail to pay reconnection fees and part of outstanding arrears after reconnections.
The committee found out that most customers fail to honour their arrangements in payment of bills, while some faltered on their current bills.
The Water Authority of Fiji is working on an Agreement Register aimed to address such problems.
The committee also found that customers with arrears above $10,000 owed close to $1.5m by the end of 2006.
The committee also concluded that the current water tariffs favour commercial entities from domestic consumers.
The Committee recommended that a suitable tariff be considered for commercial entities using water as merchandise.
The report also revealed that the Department was under-staffed, for instance in the Suva Division has only four fitters to cater for 67,000 consumers.
The issue was raised in 2003 but no action was taken to address the shortage of employees.
The Water Authority has hired full-time meter readers for constant checks, introduced a Customer Care Unit and halted commercial companies’ settlement arrangements as part of its reforms.
It has also vowed to make monthly checks to ensure that defaulters pay their arrears to avoid disconnection.