PHILIPSBURG--As of June 1, utilities company GEBE had in excess of NAf. 50 million on its various bank accounts.
The information was provided to Members of Parliament (MPs) during a Question Hour on Friday. The Question Hour was regarding the ongoing situation at NV GEBE.
“The cash flow [of GEBE – Ed.] has obviously decreased due no billing invoicing taking place since March 17, and incoming payments have declined in the month of May, but fortunately, GEBE had a cash reserve on hand which could be used to buffer the current financial situation. As of June 1, 2022, GEBE still has [in] excess of NAf. 50 million on the various bank accounts,” Minister of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment, and Infrastructure VROMI Egbert Doran told MPs.
“In the months of March and April, the incoming payments from GEBE customers were fairly significant as the customers were paying invoices received in February and March throughout – from March 1, through 16 – and old past due invoices. However, as time moved on, the incoming payments of May have been tapered off significantly resulting in GEBE having to postpone payments to vendors and postpone certain CAPEX and maintenance projects.”
GEBE closed its doors for physical payment of bills on Thursday March 17, after being attacked by the BlackByte Ransomware. It remained closed for almost three months reopening on Monday, June 6.
Since reopening, the company has had several hiccups that it has been ironing out including initially encountering a minor setback with respect to the printing of bills and having inflated exorbitant bills sent to consumers due to a glitch.
Doran said GEBE has conducted meter readings every month thus far and has created bills for the months of March, April and May.
He clarified the fuel clause calculation. “The fuel clause is calculated based on the prices of fuel that was supplied to GEBE by Sol, which enable GEBE to run the engines. Every month the fuel clause changes based on the price. It should also be noted that meter readings are not outdated and they reflect what the customer actually consume on a month-by-month basis.”
