The Resident District Commissioner (RDC) for Entebbe Mr Hakim Kirigwa has on Wednesday engaged the managers of National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC) –Entebbe Branch and discussed a range of matters including reliable water supply to the area, curbing theft of water meters and illegal water connections.
‘’I am glad that NWSC has been able to achieve a lot of milestones through a series of internal reforms, focusing on the areas of infrastructure rehabilitation and development, information technology, performance management and operating systems, staff capacity building and training, legislative adjustments, key stakeholder collaborations, among others. All these have boosted the quality of services and here in Entebbe its evident. What we need to focus on now is how to maintain reliable water supply in the area especially this festive season, and curbing both meter and water theft’’, said Kirigwa.
He added that theft of water seriously compromises the government’s strong commitment towards ‘water for all’.
‘’People who steal water deny many deserving customers a right to safe clean water. illegal water connections negatively affect honest water users because illegal connections lead to lower pressure and contamination as dirt enters through illegal connection points and the culprits are businesses and people who have the money’’, said Kirigwa.
Kirigwa further attributed the corporation’s success to its hard working staff, customers, and support from the Government of Uganda, Ministry of Water and Environment among many other stakeholders.
Gloria Bashemera, the team leader and Branch manager at National Water & Sewerage Corporation said that their task is to ensure that all customers have access to NWSC services as reliable water supply and sanitation are very critical now more than ever.
‘’We are playing our part in helping the community in every way possible to have access to clean water and sewerage services as mandated by law. We shall work with your office to ensure that we reach out to customers, sensitize them and execute our mandate’’, Bashemera noted.
Whereas NWSC is committed to 100% service expansion, cases of water theft and illegal use are affecting the delivery of water to customers within the NWSC service areas across the country . Some of the water crimes include illegal connections and re-connections, meter bypass, vandalism, meter tampering, and meter reversals among others. It is against this background that NWSC‘s Water Loss Prevention Unit whose mandate is to stem loss of revenue by fighting illegal water use within the operational towns will work with the office of the RDC who is the head of security to sensitize the public against the illegal water use.
According to recent reports, over 35 per cent of the water supplied by the Corporation is stolen through bypassing and tempering with water meters around the country which could have increased in the previous months.
National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC) is Uganda’s largest water authority providing potable water and sewerage services in the country, with a customer base of over 900,000 connections serving approximately 18 million people.
Established by Decree No. 34 of 1972, the principal business of the Corporation is to operate and provide water and sewerage services in areas entrusted to it by the Government, on a commercial and financially viable basis.