NAN – The Cross River State Water Board (CRSWB) Ltd has urged its customers to pay their water bills promptly to guarantee efficient service delivery.
The General Manager (Operations) of (CRSWB), Mr James Buchan, made the call on Sunday, February 8, 2015 in Calabar in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
Buchan said the response of consumers with payment of water bills in the state was not encouraging considering the quality of service rendered to them by the water board.
“W do not produce water if there is one element missing. We ensure that all the chemical components are available before producing and all these cost money.
“So, there is no reason why consumers should not pay their bills or why some people should attempt to cut corners in doing so,” he said.
The general manager advised customers to stop making payments to unauthorised staff of the board as nobody was mandated to collect cash on its behalf.
He also warned against illegal connections, saying that anyone caught conniving with any staff of the board on this would be handed over to law enforcement agents for prosecution.
He said: “You should pay your bills direct to the designated banks. No staff of the water board is allowed to collect cash from customers.
Those people who collect cash from customers are fake staffers”.
Buchan disclosed that customers, including the state government, ministries, departments and agencies owed the board millions of Naira.
The general manager said that irregular power supply constituted a serious challenge to the board.
He said that it spent huge amount of money on gas to ensure daily production of water.
He attributed the recent water cut in Calabar metropolis to a routine maintenance carried out by the board, adding that pumping of water had fully commenced since Thursday.
