Taps Aren’t Even Dripping Anymore; GWCL Should Learn from ECG
The only other element that truly sustains, invigorates and gives us life, apart from the atmospheric oxygen we breathe, is water; but the water aren’t flowing anymore, a situation dehydrating us dry to death.
Our biggest thanks, however, need continually go to the Omnipresent for not placing the air into the hands of fellow humans for onward distribution for our survival, as it is in the case of water; too expensive these days, and scarce.
The Ghana Water Company (GWC) Limited alongside it’s twin-sister, the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) were recently in the news for confusing reasons, as they demand a combine total of utility tariff increment of some 500%, people first thought was fanciful. But they insist only that could help the citizenry switch on lights and satisfy thirty dry throats.
The Anchor recalls that although, the addressing of the ECG/GWCL’s shylock-style blackmail of the people, were delayed by the Public Utility Regulatory Commission (PURC), some 38% increment seems to have been approved for them, across board.
The Anchor also observes with keen interest, when the ECG after somewhat, ‘satisfied’, with the only amount of increment the people could afford for now, hit the ground running – after several millions of Ghana Cedis worth of their product being stolen by criminally-minded individuals, companies and institution.
That is not all; the ECG is currently stark on the heels of the power-thieves, no matter what social moustache they wear and or what planet they live on; once they choose to illegally-tap power or bypass the power vendor’s meters; and their efforts are paying. That is leadership and kudos to the eye-red Managing Director for tackling the wild beast and still vowing to hold the bull by the horn.
The ECG also receives our cheers, for having the hard ‘balls’ intact, running after recalcitrant clients, including government and quasi-governmental institutions and hotels drowning it in debts estimated at several millions of Ghana cedis.
While Ghanaians would praise the current management of ECG, for doing the needful and handling the power-theft issues the way it should, they, like Mark Twine, pray the electric power administrators achieve greater reimbursement in the resultant surcharge of the mischief-makers whose evil activities had become general burden nearly breaking our neck, and give the people more respite.
Unlike the ECG, however, the Ghana water company not only seems lagging behind the feat of the ECG, the GWCL looks like lame-ducking and for that matter, failing its managerial tests and failing to measure up to the aspiration of the people.
Although, the GWCL seems like a company of prospect and potential, it may have forgotten the people deserve more. However, the paper could urge the GWCL water administrators to quickly “go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider its ways and be wise”.
We believe the ECG could be able to take the water management to some sort of basic tutorials, regarding their resolve to retrieve, not only the millions of cedis worth of water thieves’ surcharge, but also large number of product waste from burst surface and underground pipes, that take several days, weeks or months to repair, when complained to.
Currently, the greater part of the national capital, especially, Accra and Tema, has been experiencing, acute water shortage, which this paper thinks is unnecessary. Indeed, some households are in their 5th-week of not getting water floor from their pipe.
We are arguing this because, in many parts of the cities one often see burst pipe gushing out barrels of water, either in the middle of the roads or roadside; so disheartening.
In one particular area of the Motorway East of Tema-West, near the Spintex, it becomes confusing that, though, water taps not flowing in homes, one sees, water-vomiting burst pipelines just 20-meters away, causing rivers and floods.
In one instance, it took a whole month and several follow-ups of a patriotic complainant, to the Baatsonaa area office to even, fail repairing properly. This, the paper believes, is waste of taxpayer’s.
Sometimes, the water workers could be repairing a single burst pipe for many times without achieving result, as the water starts flowing as soon as the technicians leave the scene.
The Anchor still believes the GWCL could also go the ECG way, in its efforts, if any at all, to achieve, at least, a semblance of optimum; and operational sanity.
Source: Anchorghana
