Chase not the poor, but the bigger defaulters : Bahrain MPs

Manama  : MPs have called for “stopping discrimination” in collecting electricity and water arrears from citizens, commercial outlets and government authorities.

Two MPs accused the Electricity and Water Authority (EWA) of ignoring millions of Bahraini Dinars owed by governmental institutions, while the authority is keen on chasing citizens who owe it BD300 or less.

While discussing Energy Minister Dr. Abdulhussain Mirza’s answers to the queries of MP Dr. Jameela Al Sammak and Anas Buhindi, several controversial matters were discussed and accusations were made.

Dr. Al Sammak said “EWA isn’t treating users equally, as arrears are collected from some users while others are being ignored.”

“EWA is keen on settling arrears with domestic users while it ignores the governmental sector,” Al Sammak stated during the session.

“There are many violations that were mentioned in the National Audit Report (NAR) which proves that the collection mechanism followed by EWA isn’t accurate,” Al Sammak said.

On his part, the Minister stated, “There are a few exceptions when it comes to the collection of electricity and water services arrears, which include poor families and other categories. There are about 375,000 users in Bahrain and MP Al Sammak only mentioned a few cases. The users are notified on different stages before the electricity would be cut off. These procedures are done automatically and according to an electronic system.”

Dr. Al Sammak stressed that her concerns are about the commercial and governmental sectors, not the domestic, as explained in the Minister’s reply.

“There are millions of dinars in arrears that are owed by the governmental and commercial sectors,” she added.

On the other hand, MP Anas Buhindi said, “There are 127 million in arrears. Many governmental authorities are not paying. Citizens who owe around BD300 or less are referred to court and the Public Prosecution, while companies and official authorities owe millions and the money isn’t collected for five years or more. Some Ministries owe the money for around five years without paying. We hope the settlement could be done annually.”

Dr. Mirza reiterated, “80pc of the arrears are of the domestic sector, which is around BD53m, while it’s only BD26m for other sectors including governmental and commercial sectors. We have an agreement with Finance Ministry, which manages the accounts of all government authorities and eventually does a settlement. The money owed by the government is due to be paid to the government, so it’s a domestic issue and no third parties are involved.”

Anyhow, the MPs insisted on chasing governmental authorities and commercial outlets when it comes to collecting electricity and water services arrears, instead of citizens.

The Minister also mentioned that special procedures are followed while collecting the amounts from unfortunate families who has special circumstances such as widows, orphans or low-income families.