Debt collection: ‘No cost to CoW’
The City of Windhoek has again hired Redforce Debt Management to collect outstanding debt for services like water and electricity.“There is N$1.2 billion outstanding. Redforce is expected to collect N$8 million a month,” according to CoW spokesperson Harold Akwenye.
Of concern to residents with outstanding payments, is that all fees will have to be borne by the defaulting customer rather than the City. “The collection fee is paid by customers. There are no costs to the City of Windhoek,” Akwenye said.
What is reassuring for many residents is Akwenye’s statement that payments will not be demanded for services that were made free of charge to residents of informal settlements during the corona pandemic. “The free water was only provided at the community taps in informal settlements, so collection is out of the question in this case,” Akwenye said.
However, the free services cannot be continued as “it is not sustainable to provide free water as the City has to pay for such services to further distribute it to the public”.