Water reservoir of Chu Se Joint Stock Water Supply Company.
On May 25th, Mr. Nguyen Duc Cuong, Chief of Office of Chu Se District People’s Committee (Gia Lai Province), stated that the district will be working with the Chu Se Joint Stock Water Supply Company to address the issue of water discontinuation affecting local households.
Prior to this, on May 24th, the aforementioned company had announced the cessation of water supply to approximately 1,600 households in the district.
According to Mr. Le Vinh Thinh, CEO of Chu Se Joint Stock Water Supply Company, the reason for the water cut-off was due to a power outage at the water plant since 8:30 AM on May 24th. He explained that it was caused by the failure of the water fee collectors to remit sufficient funds to the company, resulting in insufficient funds to pay the electricity bills. Additionally, local communities have been slow in settling their water bills, further exacerbating the issue.
The water supply will resume once the power supply is restored, as per the company’s statement.
This is not the first time such an incident has occurred. In October 2023, the Chu Se Water Supply Company also announced a similar discontinuation of water supply to the entire district due to financial difficulties in paying their electricity bills. This caused concern and anxiety among the residents. As a result, a meeting was held in November 2023, chaired by the leaders of the Gia Lai Provincial People’s Committee, to address the issues faced by the water supply company.
During the meeting, Mr. Le Vinh Thinh shared that the company had been facing financial challenges due to a low number of water subscribers, making it difficult to recoup their investment. Consequently, water consumption in many communes fell significantly short of the district’s total population. Additionally, some communes had connected to the main water pipeline but had kept the valves closed since June 2021, preventing residents from accessing the water supply. There were even cases of communes defaulting on their water bills.
Notably, since the COVID-19 pandemic, the company has accumulated debts, including social insurance arrears of approximately VND 600 million, debts to the Gia Lai Multi-member Limited Liability Company of Water Resources Exploitation amounting to VND 400 million in raw water fees (VND 900/m3), and unpaid taxes and environmental protection fees.
