Public Institutions To Pay Water Bills
The Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Water Resources Works & Housing, Hon. Samson Ahi, on 27th May, 2015, held a meeting with Heads of Public Institutions and Management of Ghana Water Company Limited to find an amicable solution to the impasse, arising out of the non-payment of water bills by these institutions.
The parties agreed to the following which is expected to be binding on all MDAs and MMDAs throughout the country.
- All institutions should as a matter of urgency pay their water bills from their budgetary mandates
- All institutions shall deduct from source, bills pertaining to staff bungalows and commercial entities including buildings under construction on the various premises of these institutions
- These institutions should collaborate with the GWCL to identify and bill appropriately all the premises of these institutions
It was also resolved that;
The directive of Government to GWCL not to disconnect institutions that provide essential services, does not imply,they are exemptedfrom the payment of water bills.
The parties shall continue to meet to finalise issues but in the interim, all parties are expected to comply with the agreement reached.
Over the years, the government has been paying utility bills for MDAs/MMDAs under a system called Government Bulk Payment System.
Under the system, the utility providers only had to compute their Consumptions and forward the bills to Ministry of Finance for payment. In June 2013, Government took the decision to discontinue the system and let the Institutions pay directly from their budgetary allocations effective January, 2014.
The GWCL in recent times has had to disconnect some of these public Institutions for non-payment of water bills following the directive from government.