Rep. Justo S. Quitugua, during a meeting with CUC Water/Wastewater Division Deputy Director Bruce Megarr on Friday, also complained about the poor customer service provided by the agency’s personnel and their failure to immediately fix water leaks reported by customers.
According to Quitugua, D-Saipan, he learned from his constituents that some CUC personnel are encouraging illegal tapping of water and power.
He noted that despite the recent sentencing of former CUC personnel charged with conspiracy and theft, “it’s still happening.”
“There was this one guy who paid some CUC personnel $80 for an illegal water connection — they didn’t come back, and he didn’t get his money back. I reported this to CUC, and I hope they will stop these activities,” Quitugua said.
Megarr said he is “more than happy to address these issues.”
“We’ll act aggressively,” he added. “We already have three terminations and one forced retirement. We’re not playing games anymore.”
Quitugua said three years ago, he asked CUC’s water leak detection team to check his bathroom.
“Three CUC guys arrived, looked at the bathroom and told me they’d come back with new equipment. They never did. I later learned that they had already retired. CUC has a lot of internal problems like this,” the lawmaker said.
Residents are reporting water leaks to CUC but its personnel are “not doing anything about it,” he added.
“A water meter reader comes and he’ll just ignore the leak visible to everyone,” he said.
Megarr assured lawmakers that he is monitoring CUC personnel on field assignments.
“If they use CUC vehicles, we know where they’re going. We’re keeping tabs,” he said.
Quitugua said he receives a lot of complaints regarding CUC’s water services from his constituents.
“I call CUC and they will tell me they’ll fix the problem, but a day later the problem is still there.”
Quitugua, however, said he has “confidence in Bruce.”
“I’m glad he’s there to address these issues,” he added.
