There is a massive water pipe rupture beneath my kitchen floor. We knew something was wrong when the water bill arrived. It was 1200.00 GHS higher than the regular monthly bill. My neighbor’s eldest daughter guided the caretaker’s wife and me. To the back of the building and showed us a crack in the wall. Near the foundation of my kitchen. From which water was seeping. The following day I went with the caretaker and a relative of the tenants on my left. Down to the water commission’s office in Berekum. To determine what financial arrangements, if any, could be made. For the gradual, but full payment of that bloated bill. We were informed that although the bill had to be paid in full. The amount paid each month depended on us. We were grateful for that information.
One of their plumbers came to the property the same day that we visited the office. To make an assessment of the amount of work needed. To locate the ruptured pipe and affect the repairs. His estimate of the total cost was 250.00 GHS. I called the landlord and invited him to come to the property promptly. Since he needed to witness for himself the calamity that had occurred. He assured me that he would be on-site as soon as possible. Unfortunately, he also happens to be an Alcoholic and a Diabetic. Accordingly, I knew from previous experience with him. That a lot of water would pass under the bridge before he would finally put in his appearance. It also occurred to me that the longer the leak persisted, the larger the volume of water that would be wasted, and consequently the higher the next monthly bill would be.
I summoned my own plumber. He brought an assistant with him the following day. They dug through the wall from which the water was leaking. Located the broken pipe and made the repairs. His charge was 200.00 GHS. I paid him in full, had him execute a receipt, and thanked him. I am still waiting for the landlord’s arrival. Because as a rule I only see him once each year. When the time comes for him to collect my rent. After the plumber left I sent the landlord a text, “Mr. Sam, the cost of the wasted water is approximately 1200.00 GHS, (because no one used that water. It just ran into the ground after the pipe ruptured). The plumbing repair expense is 200.00 GHS. Furthermore, I will now have to find a mason to repair the concrete, since the plumber had to dig into the area. Where the ruptured pipe is located. How do you plan to deal with these expenses? 1. The water bill. 2. The plumbing repairs. 3. The concrete repairs. Please let me know sir? Because by taking charge and acting promptly I have saved you a substantial amount of money. Accordingly, I sincerely hope that you are grateful.
Mr. Sam’s reply was as follows:
“Good morning Mr. James, I hope you are doing good. Thanks for your message. I want you to know that I am only the caretaker of the house. But the landlord is overseas. Please, next time you need to inform me of any situation if only the problem is big, so I let the landlord knows of it. Thank you.”
I replied to my reluctant and cringing Landlord’s agent as follows:
Sir, I informed you from the very beginning. Inviting you to come and verify the information that I provided you, for yourself. Although you promised to come as soon as possible, you never turned up. Are you suggesting that I should have waited and done nothing? Thereby, permitting the water to continue to leak. Thus increasing the damages to the owner and also her financial liability? I don’t think that would have been a responsible or sensible course to pursue. The bill for the water that ran out into the ground after the pipe ruptured is still there. You can make arrangements with the owner to pay that amount as soon as possible. Because under Ghana’s Law the proprietor is responsible for such unforeseen eventualities. Moreover, I have copies of the water bills here. Both before and after the spillage, consequent upon the rupture of the water pipe. Please come and examine them and also obtain copies for your own records.
Mr. Sam continued,
“Sir, I’m a busy person. You called for me to come and I was not around. Do you want to blame me for the cause of the situation?“
My response was,
“Sir, how would it help me to blame you? All I’m saying is that the water commission wants their money, and the cost of the repairs must be paid. The proprietor is responsible for these expenses. That is Ghana’s Law. I’m absolutely certain that you already know this. What occurred did not result from the carelessness or malicious action of any tenant here. It resulted from the fact that this is an old building and as such is subject to wear and tear and depreciation.”
The agent’s futile attempts to minimize, obfuscate and avoid any responsibility in connection with the ruptured pipe and the resulting repairs were simply stupid. Common sense alone would have advised him of his culpability and liability. However, I’m willing to concede that his compromised health and his alcoholism may have clouded his judgment. Only emotionally retarded or developmentally disabled individuals would escape any responsibility for the events described above. But for some inexplicable reason, he seemed to be inviting me to categorize him as such. As we read in scripture,
“When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things.” (1 Corinthians 13:11 NKJV). In other words, the concept of individual responsibility as the circumstances dictate is clearly taught in scripture. Furthermore, we are not even permitted to claim ignorance as a mitigating factor when it has been clearly established that some moral infraction has occurred. As we are counseled in God’s inspired word,
“If a person sins, and commits any of these things which are forbidden to be done by the commandments of the Lord, though he does not know it, yet he is guilty and shall bear his iniquity. And he shall bring to the priest a ram without blemish from the flock, with your valuation, as a trespass offering. So the priest shall make atonement for him regarding his ignorance in which he erred and did not know it, and it shall be forgiven him. It is a trespass offering; he has certainly trespassed against the Lord.” (Leviticus 5:17-19 NKJV).
“A person may cause evil to others not only by his actions but by his inaction, and in either case, he is justly accountable to them for the injury.”
― John Stuart Mill, ‘On Liberty’, 1859.
“The thing the sixties did was to show us the possibilities and the responsibility that we all had. It wasn’t the answer. It just gave us a glimpse of the possibility.”
― John Lennon.
“Men who reject the responsibility of thought and reason can only exist as parasites on the thinking of others.”
― Ayn Rand, ‘The Virtue Of Selfishness: A New Concept Of Egoism’, 1964.
The Master attempted to teach His followers the importance of acting responsibly, even when doing so might appear to compromise their own security. The story of the good Samaritan is a classical example. On his way to Jericho, a certain traveler fell among thieves. They accosted him, robbed him, and beat him to within a few inches of his life. Then they abandoned him. Not caring whether he lived or died. Two purported servants of God. A Levite and a Priest. Both were members of the tribe of Levi. A tribe that had been selected by divine decree not only to be servants of God but also special custodians of His TRUTH. Those two men saw the victim from afar. They both recognized that he desperately needed help. But instead of coming to his assistance, they crossed over onto the other side of the road. Both the Levite and the priest were on their way to the temple to officiate in their various roles as ministers of God. However, instead of acting responsibly, they manufactured mental rationalizations to absolve themselves of their responsibility to help a fellow human being.
Eventually, a member of another race, a despised Samaritan. Came along on the same thoroughfare. He saw the victim, recognized his need, and had compassion for him. He dressed the stranger’s wounds, placed him on his donkey, and shepherded them to an inn. Not only did the Samaritan pay for the stranger’s immediate expenses but offered to pay even more when he came again if necessary. Here are portrayed two groups of people. The servants of God who behaved as if they were mentally ill because they were emotionally apathetic. Then there is the good Samaritan who acted responsibly. He was Christlike because he was humane and compassionate.
aadventuresinghana.wordpress.com 