The National Water Commission wants to raise water and sewerage rates by 51 per cent, and in yards where the pipe still runs dry, many customers are asking what they will get for it.
KINGSTON, Jamaica, 30 October 2026
The story behind the cartoon
In today’s cartoon, a woman in a bright headwrap holds her bucket under the standpipe in a Kingston yard. The tap gives only a thin trickle. What pours out instead is a long paper water bill, stamped 51%, curling and piling up on the ground. Behind her an old man in his felt hat, a schoolboy and a young mother with her baby wait their turn with empty buckets and jerry cans, eyes wide at the size of the bill.
It is a scene many households know well. The drum in the yard, the bucket at the ready, and the bill that arrives on time even when the water does not.
What the NWC is asking for
The Office of Utilities Regulation says it received a tariff application from the National Water Commission on Friday 16 October 2026. The application covers five years, from 2026/27 to 2030/31. The regulator said it would first check the application’s form and content, could ask for more information, and would tell the Commission within ten days whether it accepts the application for review.
Officials of the Commission told Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee on 20 October that the request is for an increase of 51 per cent in water and sewerage rates, so that revenue can meet expenses. They said customers will be engaged before any increase takes effect. The Commission serves about 500,000 customers. It last applied for a tariff review in 2018, and the regulator issued its decision in 2019.
The money problem
An Auditor General’s report found that the Commission’s unpaid bills rose from J$10.6 billion in 2016/17 to J$33.2 billion by March 2026, even as its books moved from a loss of J$5.7 billion in 2019/20 to a profit of J$200 million in 2023/24. The Commission’s chief financial officer told the committee that J$21 billion of that debt is General Consumption Tax owed to the Government.
Speaking on Wednesday at the start of work on a pipeline project in St Elizabeth, the minister with responsibility for water backed the request. He said the increase would be phased in, and that the households that use the least water could see a rise of about 10 per cent over five years.
What it means for households
Nothing changes on anyone’s bill yet. The regulator must review the application, and there will be public consultation before any decision. For homeowners, landlords and tenants, that consultation is the moment to speak up about leaks, low pressure and long dry spells, and to ask what service improvements the extra money will buy.
For families already budgeting for light, rent and food, a higher water bill would be one more cost to plan for. Storage tanks, rainwater harvesting and fixing leaks at home are worth thinking about now.
A fair price for water starts with water in the pipe.
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