Opposition urges OUR to reject NWC’s proposed 51% tariff increase
Key Points(5)
- The application was disclosed by acting NWC President Kevin Kerr during Tuesday’s meeting of Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC).
- Kerr said the submission was made to the OUR last Friday and is intended to finance priority projects under the commission’s investment plan.
- He said the plan would have to be revised if the application is rejected.
- The OUR is expected to facilitate public consultations before making a determination.
- The NWC serves approximately 500,000 customers and has said the increase is needed to ensure that its revenues cover its expenses.
Jamaica’s Opposition Spokesperson on Water Ian Hayles is calling on the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) to reject the National Water Commission’s (NWC) application for a 51 per cent tariff increase, arguing that the utility must demonstrate better management of the country’s water resources before customers face higher bills.
The application was disclosed by acting NWC President Kevin Kerr during Tuesday’s meeting of Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC). Kerr said the submission was made to the OUR last Friday and is intended to finance priority projects under the commission’s investment plan.
He said the plan would have to be revised if the application is rejected. The OUR is expected to facilitate public consultations before making a determination.
The NWC serves approximately 500,000 customers and has said the increase is needed to ensure that its revenues cover its expenses. The commission’s last tariff increase was granted in 2019.
However, Hayles, in a statement on Wednesday, cited findings from the Auditor General’s performance audit of the NWC as grounds for opposing the proposed increase.
He said the audit found that 17 priority projects valued at $394 billion had no master plans and that the commission lacked a documented framework for ranking capital projects. A framework for selecting projects is not expected to be in place until March 2028, he added.
Hayles also pointed to a sharp increase in the NWC’s payables, which rose from $10.6 billion in the 2016/17 financial year to $33.2 billion in 2025/26.
He said the commission had underspent its capital budgets every year since 2019/20, consistently missed targets for reducing non-revenue water and improving energy efficiency, and failed to submit four years of audited financial statements to Parliament.
“The NWC says this increase will fund its investment plan. The Auditor General says there is no master plan and no documented way of choosing projects,” Hayles said.
“Why should the people of Jamaica pay for the mismanagement of their water?”
The opposition spokesman said he had called for a national water master plan and a transparent system for selecting projects during his Sectoral Debate presentation in June.
He argued that the audit findings highlighted shortcomings in the management of the country’s water sector, while households continued to face the costs and inconvenience of unreliable supplies.
“In June I said this Ministry [of Water and Environment] was full of acronyms, branding and lofty goals. The Auditor General has now confirmed that behind the slogans is poor management, and Jamaicans are paying for it in dry pipes and trucked water,” Hayles said.
He also cited inflation and the financial pressure on households, noting that some customers were paying private water truckers to secure supplies while others were being billed for water they said they had not received.
Hayles said the Opposition wants the OUR, the water minister and the NWC Board to reject the application and consider no increase until the commission submits its outstanding audited financial statements and presents a credible plan to reduce non-revenue water.
The Opposition is also calling for the publication of a national water master plan, transparent criteria for selecting capital projects and quarterly progress reports to be tabled in Parliament.
Other proposals include ending charges for customers who receive no water, introducing a flat rate for pensioners and a social tariff for households using up to 2,000 gallons per month, and consolidating water governance under a single executive agency to provide customers with one point of accountability.
Hayles urged Jamaicans to participate in the OUR’s public consultation on the proposed increase.
“After 10 years in power, this Government must stop managing announcements, start managing water and stop looking to the Jamaican people for a bailout,” he said.
