Jamaica’s National Water Commission (NWC) has lost over US$ 11.4 million (€ 7.6 million) in revenue in 2009 due to fraud and theft, reported the Jamaica Observer on 15 September 2009. “The commission is losing significant revenue due to theft and fraud from consumers and, unfortunately, there are some cases of theft and fraud which occur with the collusion of employees", said Charles Buchanan, NWC communications manager.

The most recent case involved NWC zone team leader Carlton Bogle, who due to to appear in court on 6 October 2009, after being charged with 34 counts of fraud. An internal audit by NWC revealed that Bogle had amassed 1.25 million Jamaican dollars (US$ 14,000 = € 9,500) between 2005 and 2008 by writing false bills.

Other cases of fraud include employees using company cards to pay for gas (petrol) used for private purposes.

The company is also trying to deal with illegal water connections. Early in September 2009, police and NWC staff disconnected 18 illegal connections from the Malvern pipeline. The connections were being used to water both legal and illegal crops causing serious effects on the farming belt of St Elizabeth.

Related news: Jamaica: Minister suspends licensing of privately operated water suppliers, Source Weekly, 26 Jun 2009

Related web sites:

• National Water Commission
• Water Integrity Network

Source: BNamericas.com [subscription site], 17 Sep 2009

Tags: latin america & caribbean, transparency, water supply