Residents of Para have been paying a water bill for years, but receive no water from the tap. DNA member Michael Marengo said this in parliament on Tuesday.
Marengo said that certain areas of Para, such as Wit Santi, Hollandse Kamp and Zanderij Centrum, have not received water from the tap for at least three to four years. The houses are connected to the SWM network, but not a drop comes out of the tap.
According to him, water did come from the tap several years ago, but no longer does. What makes the situation even worse is that people still have to pay a monthly water bill. “It is a disgrace, because less than 200 metres from our international airport, people have to carry water in buckets or jerrycans from the corner to their homes.”
He further stated that some residents of these areas even have to take a taxi to water station Republiek to fill up with water. The parliamentarian also raised the issue that water drilling and investments had been carried out two years ago, but to date, the people in that area have no water.
He noted that Wit Santi, Hollandse Kamp and Zanderij Centrum are less than a kilometre away from water station Republiek, SWM’s oldest production station. “So it cannot be that people live so close to the station and cannot have access to water.”
