Mississippi’s capital city sues company over water billing

Published 10:51 am Wednesday, June 12, 2019

(AP) — Mississippi’s capital city is suing the company it hired to overhaul its water billing system.

The Clarion Ledger reports that a lawsuit filed by the city of Jackson seeks more than $225 million from Siemens and several subcontractors.

Siemens was hired in 2012 to overhaul the city’s water system. The $91 million contract is the largest in city history. It called for installation of new water meters, a new billing system and infrastructure work.

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Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba said Tuesday that the contract has led to widespread billing problems and thousands of faulty water meters. He said the company’s work has been “woefully inadequate.”

Siemens said in a statement that it has “gone above and beyond its contractual obligations to help address the city’s well-known challenges, which are complex.”