Many Ministers from the previous Yahapalana regime and a few of the present Ministers have not paid the water bills of their official residences and the total amount due is Rs. 9.6 million from 48 official residences, Media Secretary to the Water Supply Minister, Mahendra Harischandra told the Sunday Observer.
He told the Sunday Observer on Saturday that final notices will be sent to them tomorrow (Monday) requesting them to make the payments within seven days and that cases will be filed against them shortly, if they fail to do so.
A letter has been sent to the Parliamentary Affairs Secretary asking him to deduct the costs of the water bills of all Ministers from their monthly salaries and pensions hereafter. According to Harischandra, some of them had not paid the water bills of their private homes. Around four or five of those Ministers are now dead. When Water Board officials approached the private homes of those Ministers, they had been turned away using their political power.
The Water Board had asked them to pay the arrears several times and the Water Supply Minister Vasudeva Nanayakkara had even told them personally to pay their water bills. But, they had not paid the bills as yet, he said.
The law permits to disconnect the water supply, if the arrears exceed Rs. 5,000 but yet the supply has not been disconnected. Some Ministers such as Environment Minister Mahinda Amaraweera had settled his water bill amounting to around Rs. 300,000 immediately after being informed. The amount was due from the time of the previous regime. Water rates were not increased in the recent past and will not be increased this year, he added.