Bahrain has launched a new crackdown to penalise people who fail to pay their electricity and water bills, and businesses and householders who default on the bills will not be given new connections until they have repaid their debts.

It comes as the government seeks to claw back BD100 million ($265.96 million) in outstanding payments, which is needed to improve services. Around 80 per cent of the money is owed by householders and the rest by commercial consumers, said Minister of State for Electricity and Water Affairs Dr Abdulhussain Mirza.

"The Electricity and Water Authority is still owed in excess of BD100m in utility bills but with some effort, we will be able to collect it soon," he told our sister newspaper, the Gulf Daily News.

"We have already collected most of the money owed by ministries and government departments with the intervention of the Finance Ministry, but between BD12 and BD15 million is still outstanding. This we hope to recover soon."

Dr Mirza said as the government stepped up efforts to recover outstanding bills, needy Bahraini families were being given help to pay.

"While a decision has been taken not to give new connections to defaulters, we hope increasing by 50 per cent the number of people on the needy families list, who get a BD10 monthly discount on their bills, will also help," he said.

The minister said as the EWA depended on its resources to set up infrastructure and other facilities, it was crucial to recover the outstanding money.

"When the bills are not paid, we cannot do what we want to and that affects the consumer in the long run," he said.

Meanwhile, Dr Mirza said Bahrain had taken a decision to set up 400kV substations, up from the maximum of 220kV now.

"In 1975, we started with 66kV and then increased capacity to 220kV substations," he said.

"Now, by the end of 2014, we will have three 400kV substations, which will be set up at a cost of $288 million (BD109 million)."

Dr Mirza revealed extensive refurbishment of underground cables, improvements in and setting up of new customer relations departments and a modern call centre as well as taking steps to drastically reduce power cuts during the peak summer months were on the cards.

"The idea is to improve services, respond faster and manage better for the benefit of all customers," he said, revealing demand for electricity and water was rising by up to 12 per cent a year.

"We also expect the EWA will get a substantial portion of a $10 billion pledge by the GCC countries for Bahrain," said Dr Mirza.

"This will help set up a lot of projects for the next six years." – TradeArabia News Service