PURC cautions public against stealing of GWCL water

The Public Utility Regulatory Commission (PURC) has cautioned the public against stealing of water and illegal connection to the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) system.

The Commission has reminded the people of their civil responsibility to report people and institutions that steal water from GWCL.

Mr Abdul-Wadud Ali, the Upper West Regional Manager of the PURC, made the call in Wa at the weekend during a float to educate the public on the need to pay for water supplied by the GWCL, and to desist from illegal connection to the company’s system.

He stressed that reporting those who steal water produced by the GWCL or make illegal connections should not be misconstrued a bad habit, but rather a civic obligation to the state.

Mr Ali said: “The consequences are that if the GWCL is losing, a percentage of that might come back to you and me to pay in our tariff, looking at the tariff structure, because it’s going to increase their losses. They (the GWCL) have a limit that they have to abide by, but if we force them to exceed the limit, it might come back to you and me to pay”, he explained.

He encouraged the public to patronise the services of the GWCL in the region because it produced good quality water for human consumption.

Mr Ali further noted that: “for instance, the latest Ghana Utility Performance Index by the PURC indicates that out of the 16 offices of GWCL in the country, the Upper West Region had the best quality water.”

He, however, regretted that many people in the region were not yet connected to the services of GWL, which according to him prompted awareness creation to encourage people to connect to the GWCL system.

Mr Ali observed that some people were not connected to the GWCL services due to financial challenges, but said, “the company is working to subsidies the cost of water service connection under the pro-poor policy, to enable many people patronise the GWCL services.”

The PURC Regional Boss also encouraged customers to promptly pay their water bills in order to enable the company to function effectively.

He said, “The GWCL financial viability is very important to the commission.”

Mr Kwasi Abebrese, the Upper West Regional Chief Manager of GWCL, condemned illegal water connection, warning that anyone apprehended engaging in that act would be dealt with according to the law.

He explained that illegal water connection did not only affect the cost of water delivery, but also the quality of the water people consume, and urged all hands to be on deck to prevent the offence. Mr Abebrese indicated that, “If people tamper with our installations, what happens is that we get dirty water surrounding siphoning back into the water system, and it spreads throughout the system for all consumers”. –