Residents of San Pablo and San Jose without water
Hard times are hitting villages in the north. Residents have been unable to pay their water bills and B.E.L. pulled the plug on October nineteenth for arrears of eight thousand dollars. So how are the villagers surviving without water and light? Marion Ali headed to the twin villages of San Pablo/San Jose and has this report.
Marion Ali, Reporting
This was the trickle of water we found flowing from this faucet in twin villages, San Jose and San Pablo in Orange Walk today. It is not the result of low water pressure but a situation of no water in the tank that supplies the two Villages. And that is because there is no electricity at the Water Board’s generating site to pump water to the villages.
But B.E.L.’s decision to cut the power supply was because the Water Board has not been paying a mounting bill. And that, according to everyone we spoke with, is due to delinquent water service customer.
Eldo Itza, Chairman, San Jose/San Pablo Water Board
“San Pablo, we have one hundred and fifty-three consumers and I would say and I appreciate how they are operating because we have ninety-five percent cooperating with the monthly fee. Now the big issue is San Jose. San Jose is about four hundred and five consumers whereby three hundred and five people are not contributing towards their fee monthly. They are not paying their water bill monthly like how they supposed to. It makes to a total of eight thousand and change what is owing right now.”
Victoria Itza, Resident, San Pablo Village
“The residents of the village don’t pay and we pay every month and somebody don’t pay and they use the water.”
Silvino Marin, Resident, San Jose Village
“Some people don’t pay but for that we are paying. The good suffer for everybody so I think that’s not good because the ones that pay dehn noh have to suffer but like that everybody suffer so that’s the problem.”
The problem has resulted in inconveniences for the residents like Silvino Marin and Victoria Itza who do pay their bills.
Victoria Itza
“We buy water and the well, I mek my boys clean the well.”
Silvino Marin
“We use it fi wash and other things and fi goh dah bush. We have a well. We use that well but a lotta people come fi lend some water, ih cause we problem fi that. So we are in bad condition right now.”
And that is a sign of the economic crunch, but Chairman of the San Jose/San Pablo Water Board, Eldo Itza, feels that residents can make an effort to pay the seven-dollar flat rate.
Eldo Itza
“Seven dollars is a very low rate per month so I think that any family could afford that amount. I don’t see why they wah mek wah excuse that I cannot come up with seven dollars because I noh think that is…”
Marion Ali
“Times hard.”
Eldo Itza
“I know things hard but the price seven dollars – I tell you if you earn twenty five cents a day it would be more than seven dollars so it’s just common sense.”
Itza said the Water Board had some funds in the bank but that money was used to repair the water pump in August. He added that if residents don’t meet their payments, the Water Board may have to look at the standard system that is applied in other communities. Marion Ali for News Five.
A spokesperson from B.E.L. told News Five this afternoon that an arrangement has been met with the water board and that power was restored at two-thirty. The representative also said that the San Pablo/San Jose Water Board has arrears for over one year.
