Gerald systematically stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from the organisation for years before he was caught.

He is now serving a four-year jail term mainly because it was public funds.

Now, it is exactly for that reason that a full disclosure should be made – afterall, it is our money.

At the very least we deserve to know just how he was caught. Who caught him? And how did he manage to get away with it for so long?

Riverina Water should release a statement forthwith addressing those concerns.

It is in no way good enough for the organisation to just dismiss the issue as a police matter.

On face value at least, it would appear that those in power within the organisation had no idea what Gerald was doing.

Really it’s just not good enough.

Was Gerald given too much independence? 

Who was supervising him?

And how did he avoid the auditor’s scrutiny?

At the very least an independent review panel should be set up to investigate the scandal and more importantly, the findings should be made public.

Our water bills are verging on the ridiculously high, and although not directly related to the Pieper missing thousands, it certainly hasn’t helped.

Riverina Water has been far from shy when it comes to lifting our water rates, so why would they shy away from this issue?

In fact, precious little has been forthcoming from them since the story first broke.

So far I think the best we’ve heard is a cursory “there will be a full review of procedures”.

All that means is go away because we aren’t going to tell you anything.

However, this matter isn’t going anywhere.

Riverina Water needs to be open and accountable about this entire scandal, as their silence has gone on for far too long.

They can’t hide behind the police investigation or the courts anymore.

Surely it’s the very least they can do for their long-suffering customers.