I am not usually one to lodge complaints in public forums but a situation has arisen in recent days that has forced me to tell this story.

Some four and a half weeks ago I noticed a small amount of water leak in the road just in front of the building that I live in. I had phoned the customer care unit of the WSC and was told that a report would be made. A day or two later the area containing the leak was marked by spray paint with a huge letter 'W'. Four weeks passed and nothing was done. The trickle turned into a small streamlet. Last Monday, (3 August), around mid-morning, after all that water was wasted, two workers appeared to do the repairs. When I returned home later that same afternoon the mess I found was unbelievable. There was caked mud all over the street and on the pavement leading both to the entrance of the building and in front of the garages. The tarmac used to cover the crater that was dug to make the repairs was laid out in one heap, not even levelled. Two footprints leading towards a solitary road cone placed on top of this heap in addition to a tire track could be seen amongst the pebbled tarmac pieces spread across the area.

Immediately upon seeing this I proceeded to take photos of the area with the intention of informing the WSC. On that same day I was told that a report would be made, there was no reply to my initial emails. On Tuesday I phoned again and this time I was told that the work had been done by sub-contractors and that the WSC would contact these particular workers to come and clean up their mess on Wednesday, (today), no one did. I again phoned the customer care department and the person whom I spoke to told me the same statements his colleague had told me on Tuesday: “I will make a report and place the word urgent on it.” After hanging up I checked my emails to find that finally someone had responded to the emails I had sent on Monday and told me that someone would be “addressing your concern as soon as possible,” and that I should wait at least 10 working days before making a follow up request.

I was dumbfounded. Here we had a case of an inefficient service done by a worker who obviously has no pride in the work he does and couldn’t care less about what effects his work has on the residents who live in the area and I was told that I'd have to wait at least 10 days before making a follow up request. I want the service done now and the job done properly. Isn't this why we pay taxes and such high water and electricity bills - to get the job done properly the first time around? Kindly find below a copy of the email I had sent to the customer care department of the WSC along with photos of the said area.

It's time that workers of government entities be held accountable for the work they do, otherwise how is this country going to ever improve if we accept inferior work and inferior services?

Very disgruntled

B. Abela

By Email