N/R: Consumers of water owe GWCL GHS45million

Consumers of water within the Northern sector enclave are indebted to the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) of about GH45 million as at March 2023.

This according to management is hampering the production of quality services for both domestic and commercial use.

It noted that it is not able to get enough funds to procure the necessary materials and equipment to provide quality water to its customers.

According to management, the company records ten illegal connection a week. They include domestic, stand pipes especially in the Kumbungu district and other communities, commercial from the Metropolitan, Municipal and district Assemblies(MMDAs), secondary and tertiary institutions, security agencies among others.

The Northern Regional Public Relations Officer for GWCL Nii Abbey Nicholas who disclosed this in an interview noted that the company is under pressure to provide quality drinking water but financially constraint.

He noted that the debt has contributed to non-accounted of water produced which stood at about 43.30 percent and over 30 percent of the figure is commercial lose from illegal connections.

According to him, another challenge is also the extending of pipelines to the some communities without any reference to GWCL and as a result, most of the materials used are inferior which leads to leakages and bursts thereby affecting production and revenue mobilization.

"The destruction of pipelines by contractors affect our activities with hostility, threat and resistance from customers to staff, alongside political and traditional interference continue to pose challenges in discharging of duties," he added.

He noted that the enforcement team have been embarking on mobilization exercise and demand notices were served to individual or institutions indebted to the company.

Those customers who failed to respond to the notices were arraigned before court for prosecution after the demand notification issued to the defaulting customers was the last resort for prosecution.

"We are also indebted to our suppliers with an amount of GH40 million including power providers and other companies that supplied the company with resource materials," he said.

"If customers are able to pay, we would be able to defray our debts and be able to improve on our services," he stressed.

He indicated that the company is currently partnering with the Catholic Relief Service (CRS) in creating Tamale water fund to provide alternative livelihoods for those engaged in illegal activities along the river bank.

"With the sand winning issues, we are working closely with the stakeholders to come up with proper guidelines to regulate their activities," he explained.

Touching on the Bagre dam issue, he noted that there is going to be dredging at the Nawuni raw water intake point to accumulate more volumes of water for abstraction and treatment purposes during the spillage and the raining season for both commercial and domestic use..

He said management is also planning to engage in some afforestation at the degraded lands along the river banks.

"As part of the Tamale-Damongo water expansion project, major rehabilitation exercise would take place at the Dalun treatment plant center and that the first phase being the documentation, designs, pipe lines and the acquisition of land completed left with the second phase being the rehabilitation and the construction to address the perennial water shortages in Tamale, Damongo and Yendi and their neighbouring communities," he said.

He appealed to customers to ensure they pay the right amount of water used to enable the company generate enough revenue to expand production.

He added that a convenience platform system has been created to enable customers now pay for their bills via the various telcos irrespective of their geographical area as a means of easing the stress customers go through in paying their bills.