Cheryl L. Indalecio, a registrar of Saipan Southern High School and the wife of a serviceman deployed to Iraq, said their house had no water from June 24 until yesterday afternoon.
Her water supply was disconnected after she noticed a discrepancy in her May water billing which reached $1,019.55.
Previously, her average bill amounted to only $11 a month.
“I cannot fight any more for what is right. I am tired and I only have two months until my husband returns home,” Indalecio said.
She requested CUC to restore her water connection, saying that “the CNMI government promised us that they would take care of us while our boys are gone and this is how you treat us.”
CUC Executive Director Antonio Muna, in an e-mail yesterday, said he would look into the problem.
Variety learned that late yesterday afternoon, CUC restored Indalecio’s water supply.
In an interview, Indalecio said she might resort to legal action.
She said this was the second time that her house’s water supply had been disconnected.
Indalecio is living with her 14-year-old daughter and 69-year-old mother.
On June 15, she said she visited CUC to pay her water bill and point out the inconsistency of her May billing.
The cashier told her that she needed to have the leak detection unit inspect the water connection of their house.
Indalecio paid $15 for water and $5 for sewer services on that day to avoid disconnection.
However, on June 24, she noticed that their house had no water supply.
“I just figured it was a typical water outage,” she said.
On the following day, she still had no water while her neighbors had continuous water supply.
Indalecio said she called CUC customer service on June 26 but was told to pay $1,000 or sign a promissory note.
She said she was very upset and asked CUC’s customer “why are they doing this to my family?”
She added, “My husband is in Iraq risking his life for his nation but I can’t even get my water turned on.”
Indalecio said she could prove that there was a mistake in the billing and asked CUC to inspect her water connection and monitor its consumption.
On June 29, she said she visited CUC and a customer service staff member printed out a service order request so that the water division could check her water connection
But nobody from CUC came to her house, and when she inquired about it, the agency again told her to pay or sign a promissory note.
“I missed work on that day and stayed home all day waiting for someone to come,” she said.
