Ghana Water Company in Northern Region owes NEDCo GH₵62 million
The Ghana Water Company Limited risk being disconnected if they fail to pay its accumulated debt to the power distributor Northern Electricity Distribution Company (NEDCO).
This comes after NEDCo revealed that the GWCL owes GH₵62 million during a revenue collection exercise.
Speaking after the exercise which began on Tuesday, NEDCo’s managing director Osman Ayuba warned it would not compromise in its revenue recovery exercise adding GWCL will be taken off the grid if they fail to settle its debt.
“It is a compilation of outstanding bills over the years and I think that we’ve not been very hard on them, that is what has led us to this amount of GH₵62 million. But, with this exercise I’m sure they will put in an effort to redeem themselves,” he said.
Mr Ayuba added that not only will they disconnect their offices but also the treatment plant where water is produced to supply residents in over five districts.
“Water is an essential commodity, yes, but they also sell the water. We get disconnected when we don’t pay so why we should not disconnect them when they don’t pay us?” He quizzed.
Meanwhile, according to NEDCo officials, customers owe the company about GH₵1.2 billion cedis. The company said its targeting to recover about 50% of the revenue.
NEDCo owes the Volta River Authority and the Ghana Grid Company in excess of GH₵2 billion. As part of the exercise they zoned its operational area into groups led by its managing director to undertake the exercise.
The exercise with the managing director’s team started with a visit to the Bagabaga College of Education where the college currently owes GH₵4.1 million. Unable to pay the amount or reach an agreement with NEDCo, the college had its power source disconnected.
The team’s next stop was the Aliu Mahama Sports Stadium and the Tamale College of Education, who owe about GH₵466,000 thousand and GH₵3.5 million cedis respectively. These two institutions were also taken off the grid after failing to pay their debt.
At the Tamale Technical University, an agreement was ready with NEDCo for a plan to get them to pay their debt. The University said it would pay GH₵100,000 out of the arrears while a new payment plan is developed to help them settle the rest.
Meanwhile, the managing director described the exercise as a success following the recovery of some amount and the disconnect of some institutions.
“I will describe it as a success for me and my team,” Mr Ayuba said.
Source: Ghana News
