Dear Editor
GEBE has been fooling the public about this virus from day one. GEBE's record-keeping has always been out of sync. In order to verify one bill, the date, account number, invoice number, document number, due date, the amount due, and a few more items have to be checked. This is for one bill.
They have always been behind in their updates to payments made by clients and those clients that did not keep records of payments made have found themselves having to pay again because GEBE misplaced or lost the records, and the bills become outstanding according to the collection program. Imagine the hundreds of thousands of bills that have to be verified after this virus attack
Long before the virus attack the installation and removal meter records were out of date. Meters that were installed or removed years before the virus attack were not updated, confusing clients who were being billed for meters that after being removed were repaired and installed for another client, but still listed on the client's account.
For years now, GEBE personnel have been estimating people's utility usage. Whether it was due to lack or laziness of personnel we will never know but it was obvious that the meters were not being read on a monthly basis due to the wild up and downswing of usage. They just estimated what they thought you would have used and you had to pay it or be disconnected. It's time for GEBE to be held accountable for this abuse of trust and the St. Maarten people.
GEBE stating that 75% of their data has been repaired is a blatant lie because for two years I have been visiting GEBE to correct the wrong meters on my account and they are still listed on my account. I personally took in the information, pictures, and documentation of meters that were removed but are still on my account. People saw me coming out of GEBE's office so many times they asked me if I was working there,
It's time to grab the bull by the horns and start over again with a new billing system. GEBE should cut their losses and start over because they will never be able to correct all these outlandish bills they have been sending people. On top of that, being the only provider they have their boots on people's necks threatening to cut clients' utilities if they don't pay, How can anyone continue paying for a meter that is installed somewhere else? That is lost money because GEBE will never be able to reconcile these bills. They cannot keep up with the workload they have now, imagine correcting all those ridiculous thousand-dollar erroneous bills.
Name withheld upon author's request.
