Schools stealing water
Sep 19, 2009
WATER supply to 25 schools has been disconnected over illegal use, National water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC) officials have said.
By Charles Wendo and Conan Businge
WATER supply to 25 schools has been disconnected over illegal use, National water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC) officials have said.
The schools have accumulated about sh53m in unpaid bills and fines for theft, according to the NWSC revenue protection manager Yann Jondeau.
Kireka Parents School is the leading culprit with arrears of sh4m, followed by King Fahad Islamic primary school (sh3.8m), and Buziga High school (sh3.3m).
All schools which have been listed, Jondeau says, risk having their water systems uprooted if they do not clear their bills in a week’s time. KCC Kamwokya Primary School, which was disconnected last month, paid a fine of sh2m and was reconnected.
NWSC loses sh1bn monthly. Jondeau said Uganda loses 40% of the water which is pumped into the supply network. This includes 20% lost through illegal use and 20% through leakage along the supply lines.
Figures obtained from NWSC also indicate that one fifth of the piped water around Kampala goes unpaid because of bypassing or doctoring meters.
There are over 5,000 water thieves that have been detected, according to the NWSC. Commercial
establishments are the leading water thieves. They are followed by institutions and public stand-pipes (water selling points).
Much as there are several domestic water thieves in comparison to commercial ones, the magnitude of the latter is grave.
The Government departments are among the leading culprits. They owe NWSC sh80.7m in fines for illegal water use. Most of these are in police and army units. The fines for NGOs amount to sh3.1m. Other places with high rates of illegal water use are construction sites and washing bays.
The fines vary with the nature of offence but the average is sh1m. For illegal connection, illegal reconnection and meter bypass the fine is sh472,000 plus the cost of estimated water use for two years.
NWSC collects about sh8.3bn monthly, out of its 135,000 customers on the national grid. People can report those engaged in illegal water use on a toll-free line 0800100977.
WATER supply to 25 schools has been disconnected over illegal use, National water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC) officials have said.
The schools have accumulated about sh53m in unpaid bills and fines for theft, according to the NWSC revenue protection manager Yann Jondeau.
Kireka Parents School is the leading culprit with arrears of sh4m, followed by King Fahad Islamic primary school (sh3.8m), and Buziga High school (sh3.3m).
All schools which have been listed, Jondeau says, risk having their water systems uprooted if they do not clear their bills in a week’s time. KCC Kamwokya Primary School, which was disconnected last month, paid a fine of sh2m and was reconnected.
NWSC loses sh1bn monthly. Jondeau said Uganda loses 40% of the water which is pumped into the supply network. This includes 20% lost through illegal use and 20% through leakage along the supply lines.
Figures obtained from NWSC also indicate that one fifth of the piped water around Kampala goes unpaid because of bypassing or doctoring meters.
There are over 5,000 water thieves that have been detected, according to the NWSC. Commercial
establishments are the leading water thieves. They are followed by institutions and public stand-pipes (water selling points).
Much as there are several domestic water thieves in comparison to commercial ones, the magnitude of the latter is grave.
The Government departments are among the leading culprits. They owe NWSC sh80.7m in fines for illegal water use. Most of these are in police and army units. The fines for NGOs amount to sh3.1m. Other places with high rates of illegal water use are construction sites and washing bays.
The fines vary with the nature of offence but the average is sh1m. For illegal connection, illegal reconnection and meter bypass the fine is sh472,000 plus the cost of estimated water use for two years.
NWSC collects about sh8.3bn monthly, out of its 135,000 customers on the national grid. People can report those engaged in illegal water use on a toll-free line 0800100977.