Accra, July 19, GNA - The Ghana Water Company Limited
(GWCL) has made losses of about 60 per cent of water
produced due to illegal practices such as multiple connections
and tampering with meters. Mr Kenneth Ennin, Regional Commercial Officer of the
Company, said in Accra on Wednesday that such activities did
not allow for accurate reading of the meters. He made this known at a public forum to educate and
encourage water vendors within the Konkomba Market area to
form an association, where members would be registered and
given the mandate to operate. Mr Ennin said the Company would negotiate with registered
vendors, who would be given an estimated flat rate to help the
Company to account for its water supply and check the
activities of illegal operators in the area. He said the Company would on August 1, launch a special
operation by its Loss Control Task Force and the Police to
track down and disconnect all illegal pipelines. Mr Ennin noted that GWCL needed money to provide
essential services to the public and, therefore, called on all
Ghanaians to collaborate with it to arrest individuals, who were
engaged in such activities. Mr Francis Lamptey, Regional Surveyor of GWCL, said the
Company needed new pipelines, fuel for vehicles and the
provision of new machines to improve service delivery. He said a survey around the Konkomba vicinity showed that
most water vendors had engaged in illegal connections for
their commercial activities leading to losses to the company. He cautioned the water operators not to engage the
services of quack plumbers when laying pipelines. "If you want
to lay pipelines, contact the GWCL and do not do anything on
your own, otherwise, you will go behind the bars." Mr Thomas Ahuno, one of the water vendors, said trucks
which offloaded goods at the market washed their trucks from
illegal sources deep in the night. He advised water vendors to be open and transparent in
their dealings with GWCL.
