Thousands Benefit from NWC Amnesty Since January Launch

The National Water Commission (NWC) is reporting that thousands of customers have utilised the amnesty programme to settle outstanding debts and restore their service, since its launch in January.

“Over 34,000 persons have engaged the NWC, requesting… the various amnesty offers that we have. To date, we have completed 9,134 of those applications and over 7,800 of those include reconnection of supply. So more than 7,000 customers have come back onto the network while more than 9,000 have benefited from write-offs,” Acting Corporate Public Relations Manager, Delano Williams, told JIS News.

Three categories of relief to assist customers with disconnected accounts are offered under the NWC’s amnesty programme, which was initially slated to end in March but was extended for a further two months and will now end on May 31, 2025.

Residential customers whose accounts have been inactive for more than six months qualify for a 50 per cent write-off on their outstanding balance.

Additionally, vulnerable groups – including Programme of Advancement through Health and Education (PATH) beneficiaries, pensioners, and persons living with disabilities – are eligible for a full write-off of balances exceeding two years.

The third segment applies to both residential and commercial account holders with outstanding debts older than two years.

Discounts for this category range from 25 to 50 per cent, providing further financial relief to eligible customers.

According to NWC representatives, the initiative aims to ease financial burdens while facilitating the reconnection of services for those most in need.

Eligible disconnected customers who have not yet benefited are encouraged to take advantage of the extension.

“We’ve extended this amnesty to facilitate the persons who we think will benefit most from this. So we’re encouraging persons to take this opportunity, it’s a significant one. On average, there is write-off ranging from several hundreds of thousands of dollars for any person; persons have gotten the chance to restart. So if you have a balance or you’ve been having challenges, now is the absolute best time to take up this offer,” he said.

To boost participation, NWC offices will remain open on Saturdays throughout May until the programme deadline.

“We’re encouraging persons to use any of the available channels and to make the best opportunity of this amnesty. We will be opening our offices… on the 24th and also on the 31st [of May]… to facilitate persons who cannot visit those locations during the week.

“So, we’re providing all available channels to give customers a chance to get back in terms of currency [and] to save some money, which they can utilise elsewhere or just to afford themselves the reconnection of the well-needed water supply,” Mr. Williams said.

He added that, “you simply need to contact the NWC and provide your account number; we [will] check the account to see which of the three segments the customer’s account would qualify for”.