29th November 2016 Over the last financial year, WAL have had several notable achievements. The most notable accomplishment was the implementation of the Universal Waste Collection in April 2016 for all households, villages and businesses in Tongatapu.
The universal waste collection was being planned in late 2015 and successfully implemented on the 1st of April 2016 which ceased the use of stickers that was previously include on the Water bill from Tonga Water Board.
In order to deliver this aspect of the project, joint billing with Tonga Power Ltd also came into effect to support this initiative which allowed customers to better manage their finances as they receive their power and waste bill at the same time via the same billing cycles as Tonga Power Ltd.
This has improved the accuracy and efficiency of the billing processes to date, providing a convenient way to pay for waste services and ensures that all households and businesses benefit from this important service.
As a result, the waste collection participation for Tongatapu increased to approximately 80% from the foregoing 30%. WAL would like to acknowledge the assistance of Tonga Power Ltd throughout this process which lead to in the improvement in the waste collection service via the implementation of a fix rubbish collection fee now shown on TPL’s monthly power bills.
In March 2016, the collection of cruise ship passengers environmental levy came into force, designated to finance environmental management in Tonga.
The initiative of the combined Utilities Board on its first year has proved to be a success as evidence of the dividend to be presented to the shareholding Ministry tomorrow.
END
Issued by the: Tonga Power Ltd