By Fay Simmons

Tribune Business Reporter

jsimmons@tribunemedia.net

An Abaco resident says she has been hit with a $1,300 Water & Sewerage Corporation bill despite being absent from her property for over three years after it was devastated by Hurricane Dorian.

Ms Williams, a Spring City resident, said that she moved to New Providence while her home was rebuilt in the aftermath of the September 2019 Category Five storm and only returned on November 2022.

She said: “They charged me for three years of water that no one was even here at this property, and even when we came back the water company was load shedding so they were only turning the pumps on for a short time.

“We were in Nassau. We weren’t even here and we came down one day and were sitting in the yard, because it wasn’t a house to even use the water, and they came and took the meter out.”

Ms Williams explained that her home was completely destroyed by Dorian, and she had an outstanding bill of only $100 when the storm struck. That balance was paid when she returned to start the rebuilding process, but she has now been presented with a bill for $1,322.49.

She said: “The bill prior to Dorian would have been like between $101 and $105, and when we came back and started building I went and paid that. Then they presented us with a $1,300 bill after the fact.

“The 1,322.49 we got, and we went and paid it because we were trying to get in the house. Now I just went to Water and Sewerage and paid $190-plus for the last bill they ran again. My bill is usually between $101 to 105.”

Ms Williams said that, immediately after Dorian, many persons in Spring City obtained water from neighbours who had manual well pumps. She added: “You couldn’t use it and, even if you could, there was no water because the water tower went down and there was no power, so there was no way possible people could have got water.

“We had to go to the neighbour because we come to try and clean up and see if we could get the area cleaned down, and there is a lady who had a hand pump and that’s how people here in Spring City, the majority of us, got water.”

The Abaco resident said she queried the large bill with Water & Sewerage representatives prior to paying it but said one employee, who was not an Abaco native, showed ‘“no compassion” for the plight of persons trying to rebuild their lives.

She said: “My husband and I went in and spoke to them about why is the bill so high, and I overheard the lady in the back saying: ‘Well, pay your water bill and leave your light off. You need water, not light.’

“She was very rude. That’s not her business, that’s not her place, that’s not her calling and I think that is very rude of a customer service representative. That particular person is not an Abaconian, and that particular person was not here during the hurricane and probably does not a have a piece of property that was damaged or totally destroyed, like the majority of us. No compassion.”

Tribune Business previously reported how Abaco residents had slammed the Water & Sewerage Corporation’s move to launch mass pre-Christmas disconnections over bills dating back four years to Hurricane Dorian.

Robert Deal, the Water & Sewerage Corporation’s general manager, responding to this newspaper’s inquiries pledged that the state-owned utility is working with Abaco residents on “a case by case basis” to address the issues created by Hurricane Dorian, subsequent service interruption and the lack of account billings for four years.

“The challenge is that due to the absolute devastation in central Abaco following Hurricane Dorian, particularly in the greater Marsh Harbour area and the Treasure Cay area where we have over 5,000 customers in total, the issuance of bills was put on hold for a period but we resumed the issuance of bills for these customers earlier this year and we are actively working to regularise these accounts post-Dorian,” Mr Deal said.

“New property owners are urged to contact our team to arrange transfer of ownership documentation updating in our system. The Water & Sewerage Corporation remains committed to working with each and everyone of our valued customers in the Abacos, particularly in Central Abaco, where the regularising of accounts is ongoing.

“The Water & Sewerage Corporation will be flexible with our customers noting the circumstances of, and following, Hurricane Dorian, but we do want them to contact us so that we can work with them to regularise their accounts. Adjustments will be granted based on the individual circumstances and the information/documentation presented.”

Another Abaco resident, Ms Burrows, said she returned to the island in September 2023 only to receive high bills for June when her home was unoccupied. Since she has returned her water supply has been off on most days. She explained that she had an outstanding balance of $185 prior to Hurricane Dorian but is unaware why the Corporation charged her for time she did not spend in Abaco.

She said: “I know about the $185 but the rest of this bill I need to know when did it happen. June 6, they send me like $300 and something because you take off the $185 off the $530. Then, on September 1, they sent me another bill for $225. 94. I just moved in the house on September 20.

“Then they sent me another bill for $225.94 in December. There was only me, one, in the house and most of the time my water is off. I would have said that somebody must be using my water but I don’t have any water. When I was doing my house for me to get water for the guys to do my tiles, I had to go across to my neighbour to get water. There was no water in this house. I didn’t even know they changed the meter.”

Ms Burrows said that when she questioned the bill, Water & Sewerage officials suggested she had a leak on her property and requested that she bring a letter from her plumber verifying that she does not have one before her account is credited in the first cycle of 2024.

She added: “They told me to go get a letter from the people who did your plumbing, bring that and then we will give you a credit. I asked how much credit but they said they didn’t know until I brought the letter and there was nothing they could do until the next bill in February next year.

Ms Burrows said that she paid the outstanding $185, but still had her services disconnected. When she returned to Water & Sewerage to speak with customer service representatives she was told to bring in at least $300.

“They cut me off before I paid the money. I went back and pay on the $185 that morning and, when I came home, my water was off. So I went back Friday and I carry a letter explaining what happened, that didn’t do anything,” she added. “She didn’t listen to me. They said to bring some more money; bring $300. You don’t do people like that.

“They bring somebody from Nassau who don’t understand what happened to Abaco people. There are people that work in there that know what happened. I’m sure they know my house was left with only the four walls, and now they are going to hit me with this bill.”