The Water Utilities Corporations (WUC) says it is still facing challenges in its bid to recover a huge sum of money that it is owed by both public and private entities.
The money, which amounts to more than a half a billion Pula is owed by amongst others Ministries of Defence, Health as well as Education. The corporation has at some point threatened to embark on a massive disconnection drive for unpaid water bills countrywide.
WUC Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Taboka Muke has, however, expressed hope that the entities that owe the corporation will pay the dues. Muke indicated that from over P700 million owed to the corporation, P300 million is by government owned entities while P400 million is due from household.
At the same time, Muke admitted that the closure of BCL Mine also impacted on WUC revenue. “We used to bill BCL mine and we lost a lot of money as a result of its closure,” Muke said.
Following the widespread panic generated by news of the closure of BCL in late 2016, the Water Utilities Corporation (WUC) Chief Executive Officer, Mmetla Masire, noted at the time that the BCL fallout was likely to negatively affect the corporation’s financial books.
According to Masire, WUC supplied BCL with 16 million litres of water per month.
Whilst briefing the media recently, Masire admitted that the corporation was still facing water supply challenges across the country from both surface and underground water supply.
Masire added that the 2016/2017 rainy season which ended had been a good one as projected by the Department of Meteorological Services. He stated that most parts of the country particularly those that are within their dams catchment areas recorded normal to above rainfalls resulting in most dams filling to capacity.
“Over-abstraction of boreholes has resulted in the declining of groundwater levels, leading to the drying up of sources. There is another growing phenomenon of vandalism and third party damage of infrastructure which also result in significant water losses,” said Masire.
WUC says it will continue exploring other water sources of water to satisfy various water needs for the communities. The corporation further said that there are several projects; ongoing and planned aimed at addressing various water challenges specific to the areas’ needs. Meanwhile WUC has since revised tariffs a move that is expected to boost its revenue by atleast 15 percent.
