THE EDITOR: While I sympathise with our citizens who have been adversely affected by our economic problems (exacerbated by the covid19 pandemic), I believe that too many of us do not prioritise our spending properly. I fully support the sentiments expressed by A Charles in his/her letter headed 'Bad decision by WASA and Minister Gonzales' in the June 26 Newsday and I would like to add a couple additional perspectives.

We use water daily to drink, cook, bathe, wash our clothes and dishes, clean our houses and cars, flush our toilets, water our gardens and for so many other uses. WASA charges its domestic customers approximately $60 a month (bills cover three months), so why not pay this measly bill promptly?

We need electricity to light our homes and power equipment of so many types (TVs, computers, fans, ACs, fridges, microwaves, power tools, etc). T&TEC's GM Kelvin Ramsook stated that half its customer base (221,000) receives bills amounting to $300 or less every two months. These customers receive a 25 per cent reduction on their bills. This means they pay less than $112.50 per month for electricity.

We don't fuss about paying cellphone companies hundreds of dollars per month or buying Carnival costumes and tickets for fetes running into thousands of dollars, or buying the latest designer clothes and shoes, or buying alcohol and 'smokes,' yet we have an issue with paying our measly WASA and T&TEC bills.

The fact that we saw long lines to pay WASA when customers realised it was serious about disconnections shows that people have the money to pay their bills, but paying WASA and T&TEC is not high on their list of priorities. Too many of us have our priorities all screwed up.

STANLEY LEE POW

via e-mail