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Santo Domingo.- Greater Santo Domingo water and sewage utility (CAASD) director Alejandro Montas affirmed Monday that aqueduct customers owed around RD$7.0 billion, for which it has started a process to recover those funds.

Speaking with reporters in the National Palace, the official said the agency is currently eliminating debts in arrears and then negotiate payments. "We're reaching and agreement, we’re notifying those people to reach a workable agreement and pay, and establish service for many who don’t have it."

As part of discussions with those customers, Montas said the arrears are being forgiven or condoned, charging only the current debt. "We are making payment arrangements; normally we would no longer receive more than 50% -approximately RD$5.0 billion- of accumulated debt."

He added that the CAASD collects RD$80 million monthly instead of the RD$150 million he affirms the agency should.

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COMMENTS
8 comment(s)
Written by: josean, 26 Feb 2013 10:24 AM
From: United States, Fighting the Dictatorship of the Narco PLD Mafia; Guillermo Moreno President 2016



Does the PLD's Political Commitee pay for water?



Written by: Atabey, 26 Feb 2013 10:24 AM
From: United States, NYC

Paying for use of services is fundamental to bring about a fiscal balance in the governments accounts. The sooner the better. That electricity subsidy needs to go down big time, too.

Poor, middle class, or rich:

You Use it, you Pay for it.






Written by: planner, 26 Feb 2013 10:28 AM
From: Dominican Republic, Puerto Plata
Sounds like a repeat of the electrical sector - I agree - you use it you pay for it. Maybe then people will stop wasting resources when they have to actually pay for them.
Written by: rokete, 26 Feb 2013 3:56 PM
From: Dominican Republic, Santo Domingo

This is good news !!

Lots of people will probably take advantage of this opportunity, to be updated with their water bills.


What about the garbage ???

If people see the city clean and collected,

then it would be a lot easier to for the government to collect the funds from these services.

Better services easier tax collection.

Clean city, more revenue !!!
Written by: dreadlocks, 27 Feb 2013 10:11 AM
From: United States
actually, rokete, if people developed a culture of paying for things, then services could be provided. also, if people did not throw garbage everywhere but the place it should go, sanitation costs would diminish. do a simple experiment. walk around the city. look at those big receptacles which are put there for people to throw garbage in. there is more garbage outside the perimeter of the can than is inside it.

as to the little matter of partial collection of water bills; might this be political, wherein the areas where the PRD supporters preponderate get heavy attention during a PLD presidency, and vice versa?
Written by: planner, 27 Feb 2013 11:37 AM
From: Dominican Republic, Puerto Plata
dreadlocks, in this case I dont think it is political but rather by neighborhood. Let me explain, in some areas there is one valve at the end of the street or area, it gets turned on and the water flows into cysternas etc. So someone doesn't pay their bill, they cannot shut off the whole area. In other areas - each house has a shut off box - so you don't pay then YOU get shut off.

I lived in a house in Santo Domingo where the "atrasos" on the water bill were well over 30,000RD (about $725 US) Stupid lawyer for the landlord assumed us "gringas" would pay the bill. Oh hell no.

In another case - apartment in the Colonial Zone - one day late paying and your water was shut off!

Huge barrios are poorly serviced! Other "richer" neighborhoods are well serviced. Based on economics? Favoritism? Connections? Maybe all of the above. My guess is simple economics in this case.
Written by: rokete, 27 Feb 2013 2:31 PM
From: Dominican Republic, Santo Domingo

Dreadlocks agree 100%

There needs to be a more active, continuous campaign of educating and re-educating people.

However if you notice, in the Cibao region, people tend to be more tidy, clean and conscientious.

It seems that people in the south and the east need more civic education.

Let's hope that more effort is made in that sense.
Written by: rokete, 27 Feb 2013 2:39 PM
From: Dominican Republic, Santo Domingo

planner

You are absolutely right, as far as the water is concerned.

It is mostly economics.

However, the garbage is civics.

Many of the people in the city come from the country side, specially fro the south.

So education and civics may play a good role in seeing a difference,

and a more tidy Santo Domingo.
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