XN000022-1974-02-08 — Page 2

Friday, February 8, 1974

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VATER SERVICE PROCEDURES TO BE STREAMLINED

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A. new Waterworks Bill, which was published in today's gazettė,

should lead to improved water service procedures from which both the

public and the Waterworks Office will benefit.

The bill will eliminate certain anomalies which have arisen under

the existing legislation.

As one example, it provides that the registered

consumer, who is responsible for the payment of water charges, must either

live on the premises in question or own them or manage them.

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This provision should help to combat the problem of the absentee

consumer who fails either to pay a bill or to see that it is passed on

to the appropriate occupant of the premices.

A spokesman for the Waterworks Office pointed out today that

the existing ordinance has been in existence since 1938 and has not been

revised since then with the exception of very minor arendments. Changes

have become necessary in order to bring the legislation up-to-date and

to meet present-day circumstances.

While auch of the essence of the old ordinance has been retained,

it has been re-written as part of the updating process by expanding certain

section and making provision for new requirements.

Among the most important of the new provisions is, firstly, the

introduction of a new category of person known as the agent who is required

to be responsible for the custody of the communal water services.

In many multi-storey buildings there are plumbing services which

are used in cortion by more than one consumer because there is no individual

direct connection from the Waterworks main to the premises.

/Under the

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