Investigators from the Barbados Water Authority (BWA) are probing suspected cases of illegal water connections as the utility struggles to recover millions in unpaid bills, Barbados TODAY can reveal exclusively.
Some households and businesses cut off since 2023 may be using unauthorised means to access the supply.
The BWA’s Acting Chief Executive Officer, Christopher Mapp, confirmed the development in an exclusive interview with Barbados TODAY, disclosing that the authority has detected suspicious activity among both residential and commercial users who were previously cut off for non-payment.
“We are currently investigating some cases where we believe there may be illegal connections,” Mapp revealed. “There are in some cases commercial customers and in other cases residential. But in both cases, it is a major concern because once again, when we disconnect the customer, you can’t live without water and certainly if you are a commercial business, you need water to operate. So if you are able to continue to carry on a business, continue to carry on your regular activities, then it is something that we need to look into.”
Mapp urged those engaged in illegal connections to stop immediately, stressing that such actions constitute theft and threaten the financial sustainability of the utility. “I would definitely encourage people to desist. Certainly that is lost revenue,” he warned. “Anytime we are not collecting what we pay for — because we either pay Ionics for water or we have to pay to pump it, [Barbados] Light & Power, etcetera — it decreases the quality of the service that we can deliver to everyone else.”
The warning comes as the state-owned utility battles a mounting debt exceeding $100 million, most of it owed by residential customers. The BWA is seeking to recover at least 40 per cent of the outstanding amount as part of renewed efforts to strengthen its finances after leniency during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We first noted increases in the bills around COVID-19. As you would know, during that time we could not disconnect customers and that was a social responsibility. People needed water to take care of themselves,” Mapp explained. “So I think people took the water for granted and a lot of customers did not pay their water bill. We saw increases that continued throughout COVID-19. We started disconnecting just around… maybe about 2023, but obviously we can’t just go out and start disconnecting customers because water is life.”
The acting CEO said the authority continues to offer flexible payment plans, though stricter timelines have been implemented to encourage accountability. “We tried sharpening up those timelines. Whereas before we might have given quite a few years, we now try to keep customers within about two to three years, and anything else has to be approved by a committee of the board,” he said.
But he admitted that disconnection is no longer the deterrent it once was. “We’ve started disconnecting, but as I said, disconnection is not the deterrent that it used to be, and many customers are remaining disconnected and getting water from whatever source that they can get water from.”
He also addressed public concerns about rising water bills, clarifying that a significant portion of the charge reflects the national sanitation levy. “People will talk about the water bill being high, but a portion of that bill, certainly on the domestic and commercial side, at least $45, is the garbage and sewage contribution levy,” he said. “We act only as a collecting agent for sanitation and we pay that over monthly — just around $4.8m to $5m.”
Despite the arrears and growing number of disconnected accounts, Mapp maintained that Barbados still has some of the most affordable water rates in the region. “I think we do have some of the cheapest water in the Caribbean,” he said. “But we know that many of our customers do have issues paying their water bill, and that is something that we see on a monthly basis. The incidence of customers due for disconnection has been increasing, and even when we disconnect, many domestic customers are not reconnecting their water.”
The Barbados Water Authority is the island’s sole authorised provider of potable water.
sheriabrathwaite@barbadostoday.bb
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