FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
OUR Approves New Rates for Can-Cara Development Ltd
(KINGSTON, Jamaica; 2024 May 10): The Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) has approved new water and sewerage rates to be charged by Can-Cara Development Limited (CDL) to its customers.
CDL is a privately owned limited liability company which provides water and sewerage services in some sections of Western Spanish Town, St Catherine, and in the Meadows of Irwin Housing Development in St. James.
The OUR last approved rates for CDL on 2018 January 10.
The recently approved rates became effective on 2024 May 01 and will remain in effect for no less than two (2) years. CDL is expected to apply these new rates to customers’ bills issued at the end of 2024 May.
Residential account holders will now be required to pay $133.08 for every thousand litres of water, up to the first 14,000 litres supplied. The previous rate was $92.67 for that same quantity. This reflects a 43.61% increase. In the case of sewerage charges, residential account holders will be required to pay $153.70 for the first 14,000 litres of sewage handled by the utility provider, up from the previous mark of $84.11 for that same volume of sewage processed, which represents an 82.74% increase.
Having completed the necessary analysis of CDL’s tariff application and all the additional information presented, the OUR approved the rates proposed by CDL based on the ‘No Objection Principle’. In evaluating the submission, CDL’s rates were benchmarked against that of the National Water Commission (NWC). The ‘No Objection Principle’ is based on the notion that if the rate structure proposed by a private water or sewerage provider is below that of the NWC for comparable services, dependent on the outcome of the scrutiny of all data, the regulator will not necessarily object to the implementation of the proposed rate.
The approved rates are in the table below.
TABLE SHOWING THE APPROVED RATES AND CHARGES
The OUR also approved the following:
- Unmetered water and sewerage services (inclusive of service charge): $5,107.82.
- Unmetered sewerage services (inclusive of service charge): $2,936.70.
- Reconnection Fee: $4,500 for water and $13,000 for sewerage.
- Connection Fee: $11,000 (water and sewerage).
The regulator, in finalising the range of decisions, has also set timelines within which CDL should submit to the OUR its Customer Service Charter for approval, and identify additional options for customers to make bill payments.
The OUR’s decisions on the most recent Can-Cara tariff application can be found on its website: www.our.org.jm.
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Contact: OUR’s Public Affairs Unit – 876-968-6053 or publicaffairs@our.org.jm
