Legislature passes bill authorizing GWA customer assistance program
HAGÅTÑA, Guam—Sen. Sabina Flores Perez issued the following statement on Wednesday following the passage of Bill 273-37.
“Si Yu’os ma’åse to my colleagues and the community for their support of the passage of Bill 273-37. With this measure, we strengthen our commitment to bettering our people’s lives while protecting our precious resources. This bill is a crucial step towards ensuring that all residents of Guam have access to affordable, clean drinking water. By providing financial assistance and addressing water conservation, we are not only supporting our community’s most vulnerable members but also protecting our precious resources.”
Bill 273-37 authorizes GWA to create a customer assistance program to provide financial assistance to low-income and eligible households, promote water conservation, facilitate leak detection and timely repairs on private property, and significantly reduce water loss and associated costs to ratepayers, to ensure that all residents have access to clean drinking water.
According to the Water Environmental Research Institute, 2023 was one of the wettest years on record due to rainfall. Trends, however, indicate that Guam could be in line for a significant dry spell, if not drought conditions, in the future. Therefore, it is even more critical to repair or replace leaking water pipes to conserve our precious water resources from depletion and to prevent further instability and economic hardships amongst our people.
Bill 273-37 now successfully makes its way to Adelup for further action. (PR)
Sabina Flores Perez
