Water Utilities Corporation (WUC)’s Acting Corporate Communications Manager Khumo Mugibelo says customers owe them money amounting to P800 million in unpaid debts.
In an interview with Sunday Standard, he cited that the debt is a major problem for the company and also poses threats to their ability to provide the community with adequate water supply.
Furthermore, the unpaid bills have made it difficult for the corporation to deliver on its mandate and compromised on some key equipment.
This has resulted in the company taking a drastic action of water disconnections for people with unpaid bills.
He said: “Water disconnections has always been part of strategic debt collection method as water is a necessity in people’s lives, they will be forced to come and pay as soon as their water is disconnected.”
“The unpaid bill for the nation at large adds further constraint to the company as this is a business we are running and we cannot operate at a loss. The mass awareness campaign that we held proved to be helpful which is why during the holidays we compromised for our revenue offices to be open to allow customers to pay their dues,” he added.
The Corporation is said to be owed by a combination of consumer categories such as government, business as well as domestic users.
Meanwhile, the 2015\16 annual report shows an increase in net loss for the Corporation of a P370.3 million as compared to the 2014/15’s P346.6 million.
Despite running at a loss, the company is surviving with its water sales revenue experiencing a 30 percent increase of P1.3 billion in 2015/2016 as compared to P975.8 million in 2014/15.
