Government considering water meters in MDAs to curb unpaid bills

The Water and Sanitation Minister-designate, Cecilia Abena Dapaah, has indicated that government will explore the possibility of providing meters for public institutions as a billing mechanism in order to get them to pay for water consumption.

Public institutions have incurred debts to public utilities over the years for non-payment of electricity and water that they consumed. This has contributed to the financial difficulties of the utilities, hindering investment in their business and improvements to service delivery.

Appearing before the Appointments Committee of Parliament on Tuesday, Mrs. Dapaah was asked what her plans were to address the indebtedness of public institutions to the state-owned Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL).

She said: “Just like electricity meters, we hope in the long term to introduce meters into the system to make sure you pay as you use or pay and use. We are thinking through that.”

She added that if the decision was firmed up, it would compel public institutions to pay for their water consumption and eliminate the debt problems.

GWCL supplies potable water for domestic, institutional, and commercial purposes in urban and peri-urban communities in Ghana.

According to a 2018 report by the company, public institutions pay just 12 percent of their water bills, compared with 90 percent payment by non-public customers.

On the enforcement of the requirement for landlords to provide toilet facilities in their houses, the Minister-designate said that was mainly the responsibility of local governments, although she recognised that other stakeholders had a role in supporting enforcement.

Mrs. Dapaah also informed members of the committee that due to population growth and increased demand for water, government was already taking steps to expand the Weija and Kpone facilities to improve water accessibility in the capital.