It’s no wonder MP Flick Drummond has been criticised.
She has suggested that Jo and Joanna Public should stop flushing the loo, taking a bath, or using their washing machines during times of heavy rain.
Her ridiculous comments are just taking the focus away from the real issue, which is that the water companies are doing very little to prevent the discharge of sewage into our rivers and coastal waters.
Since the start of 2024, there have been 23 confirmed occasions of sewage being released into the Langstone Harbour area.
23 occasions in less than two months. What this shows is that fining the water companies isn’t working.
In 2021, Southern Water was fined £90m for deliberately dumping billions of litres of raw sewage into protected seas over several years for its own financial gain.
Just last year, 2023, Southern Water was instructed to return £43 million to customers by reducing bills for 2024.
And rubbing salt into public wounds, the water companies paid out £65.9bn in dividends to shareholders in the years up to 2022.
So somewhere between paying fines and paying dividends are the huge profits they are making, enabling them to pay huge salaries to their management.
Ian McAulay, CEO for Souther Water, was apparently paid a bonus of £550,900 in 2020/21. This is in addition to a £435,000-a-year salary and with pension payments and benefits secured a £1.082m pay package.
It’s time that these company execs were hit in their personal pockets. Then, maybe, they would feel inclined to take positive action.
So Flick Drummond, perhaps instead of blaming the public, you could target the true people responsible, the water companies, and their execs.
Perhaps you could also look at the decision-making of the planners, which surrounds the many developments in this area and apply pressure to ensure that the sewage infrastructure is set in place BEFORE building starts.
The public voted you into your position to speak on their behalf. They can easily vote you out.
WrAnTz 