CHIEF Executive Officer (CEO) of the Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI), Dr. Richard Van-West Charles has warned customers that tampering with water meters would not be condoned and legal action will be taken if necessary.

In the past, persons would be warned after being caught tampering with meters and they would have to commit the offence several times before being penalised, said Dr. Charles during a recent interview with reporters.
“We have to look at applying the law with respect to tampering… the situation I met before I took office involved first, second and third offences… tampering is tampering and we should apply the law properly,” he said.

The CEO said that anyone who is caught tampering would be taken to court. He explained that his staff was also urged to gather sufficient evidence to provide to the court.
Tampering in most instances could lead to damage to the quality of water supplied to residents who might be legitimately utilising the services, he said.

In addition to tampering, the CEO highlighted that some persons did not have water meters and were benefiting from the services for free.

“People are calling in to report tampering and so forth… only recently on the East Bank we found 75 families who were getting free water for 15 years,” he lamented, adding that they also found people in Georgetown who benefited from free water for 10 years.
It was reported that GWI discovered that meters were installed almost 10 years ago but were not in the system.

In order to correct the situation, GWI had started a progamme to ensure that every household is metered.
“We want to be fair and just, so once you are metered, you pay for what you used,” said Dr. Charles.

He also pointed out that GWI has not been looking at regulations alone but also ways to improve their service. A potential improvement would be the increase in the pressure of water that reaches each household, he said, noting that persons should ensure that they have the right pipes to take the pressure.