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Water Payment Delinquency Grows in Naucalpan; Half of Users Owe Money
🇲🇽 Mexico /Economy & Trade

Water Payment Delinquency Grows in Naucalpan; Half of Users Owe Money

From El Universal · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

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  • Naucalpan, Mexico, faces a growing problem with water payment delinquency, with 50% of users owing money.
  • This issue impacts the water utility's ability to maintain and upgrade infrastructure.
  • The water authority urges citizens to be responsible and pay for services, linking it to the right to receive them.

Naucalpan, a municipality in Mexico State, is grappling with a significant rise in water payment delinquency, with half of its user base currently owing money for the service. Gregorio Ramos, director of the Naucalpan Potable Water, Drainage, and Sewerage System (OAPAS), stated that this situation mirrors broader issues across the State of Mexico and Mexico City, where a culture of non-payment persists.

Naucalpan, like all municipalities in the State of Mexico and Mexico City, suffers from a culture of non-payment.

— Gregorio RamosThe director of OAPAS describing the widespread issue of water payment delinquency.

"Naucalpan, like all municipalities in the State of Mexico and Mexico City, suffers from a culture of non-payment," Ramos affirmed. He noted that a decade ago, only 30% of users were delinquent, a figure that has now climbed to 50%. This widespread non-payment affects all user sectors, including commercial, industrial, residential, and low-income domestic users.

A decade ago, the percentage was 65-70 percent who did pay, and the other 30 we had to chase. Today we are at points where 50 percent of the OAPAS user base has an outstanding debt.

— Gregorio RamosComparing current water payment delinquency rates to those from ten years prior.

Ramos highlighted the direct correlation between payment collection and OAPAS's capacity to address the needs of the hydraulic infrastructure. "The capitalization of services depends heavily on citizens being co-responsible with the organism," he explained, emphasizing that while citizens demand services like daily water access and the absence of sinkholes, they must fulfill their obligation to pay.

The capitalization of services depends heavily on citizens being co-responsible with the organism because to demand that there are no sinkholes and they have water every day. They say it is a human right, every right carries an obligation and in Naucalpan 50 percent of the inhabitants do not pay.

— Gregorio RamosLinking citizen responsibility and payment to the provision of water services.

Despite the challenges, OAPAS plans investments this year to improve the potable water network. These initiatives include replacing pipelines, reconstructing tanks, and installing telemetry systems. Ramos stated that the modernization processes are underway, with the goal of seeing improvements in the daily operation of Naucalpan's hydraulic system in the coming months. He stressed that "all the investment we have made this year will begin to be reflected in the daily operation of Naucalpan's hydraulic system in subsequent months."

All the investment we have made this year will begin to be reflected in the daily operation of Naucalpan's hydraulic system in subsequent months.

— Gregorio RamosDiscussing upcoming improvements to the water system funded by current investments.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by El Universal in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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