Water authority owed millions as consumers over-use

Panama consumes 482 gallons of water per person per day three times the average of the rest of the countries in Latin America, but are lax  in paying according to figures from the  Public Services Authority (ASEP).

The statistics were published just days after  Juan Felipe De Iglesia Director of Panama’s water and sewer authority (IDAAN)   ignited  a  storm of protest when  he  said during  a presentation to the country’s lawmakers that:  “We have a swimming pool epidemic in the slums”, referring to the use of plastic paddling pools by low-income citizens.

But the ASEP figures show that that people in “marginalized communities”  are a small part of the problem.

Some  103 gallons per day per person are consumed in residential zones but in stores, the figure climbs to 1,339 gallons per day, to 6,052 gallons in the government sector and to 30,993 in the industrial sector.

The highest average consumption is in the province of Colón where In homes  124 gallons per person are consumed every day. The average, including all sectors, is 700 gallons of water per capita per day.

In addition to high consumption challenges, the Idaan also has a  multi-millionaire dollar debt to collect. The institution started the year with a delinquent portfolio of more than $75 million, of which 81% belongs to commercial establishments and residential areas.The rest comes from the government sector.

IDAAN has become a whipping boy for water problems but is hampered by collection glitches, leaving it constantly in the red.

Currently, they must collect from some 565,000 customers throughout the country, a process that becomes difficult, and even dangerous for officials, within red zones reports La Prensa.

The Idaan has implemented an aggressive collection plan in 2018 to remedy the situation.

With hundreds of water cuts to defaulters so far this year. The most significant was in January when 193 water cuts were made in the city of Panama to collect a delinquency of more than half a million dollars.

In February, more than 100 cuts were made in Coclé province  to recover  more than $50,000

In Herrera, 587 water cuts have been made due to delinquency during the first three months of 2018. reducing delinquency by 6.36%, with payment agreements to settle debts.