The disagreement over the water bills between people from four villages in Preak Leap commune and the Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority (PPWSA) has been resolved, according to a municipal hall official.
Protests took place recently involving residents of Kien Khleang, Prek Leap, Khtor and Bak Kheng villages in Chroy Changvar district’s Preak Leap commune over water utility bills that showed a two-to-five fold increase from previous bills.
After the protests, deputy municipal governor Nuon Pharat led a working group with the participation of the PPWSA’s director-general to coordinate with more than 100 people on December 29.
According to a press release issued by the PPWSA on December 23, the increase in abnormal water consumption in these areas was due to the negligence of the water metre reading agency in fulfiling its duties in accordance with the unit’s principles, resulting in a drastic increase in the amount of water consumed according to the metre.
After noticing the agency’s irregularities, the PPWSA removed the agency from its approved contractor’s list while solving problems they caused by assigning a team to read the actual water metre numbers that reflect what the customers had actually used.
