WUC saddled with P1bn unpaid bill

Supply, demand balance under significant pressure from population dynamics

Saddled with an unpaid bill amounting to over P1billion, the monopoly potable water supplier Water Utilities Corporation ( WUC) is a company under.

Ironically, all sorts of clientele including government herself owe huge sums of money. The balance sheet indicates that the increase in debt which started before COVID- 19 pandemic increased by over 49 percent.

In an interview WUC Chief Executive Officer Gaselemogwe Senai said the Corporation’s financial performance and its ability to support its operations have drastically been affected by the COVID- 19 pandemic. As at 30 September 2021, WUC customer debt had increased by at least P400 million from P801 million reported in March 2019 to P1.2 billion, a 49.9 percent increase. All consumer categories increased, with the highest increase in domestic customer’s debt, which rose by 50.6 percent from P540 million to P813 million by September 2021. He said most government departments and businesses are also behind and engagements on payment plans are in progress. “Most of the government departments have cited issues of budget constraints, which have negatively affected their debt levels”.

Senai said several initiatives have been undertaken to improve customer service, and notable amongst them is the introduction of customer self- service platforms where customers can submit their meter readings, check their water bills and pay their bills. “The reception of these facilities has been positive, but indications are that there is need for aggressive marketing so that they are enjoyed by all customers”. Like everyone, WUC is equally affected by the COVID- 19 pandemic, posing a new challenge that necessitated the Corporation to adopt new ways of operation at the same time ensuring uninterrupted water supply to the Community. The moratorium to reconnect all disconnected customers and not to disconnect non paying customers significantly increased the Corporation debt. The Corporation continually refreshes its Strategy to bring its implementation back on track, and after assessment and review of the first year of implementation, Management selected critical areas to focus efforts on in a bid to bring Strategy implementation back on track.

He said the four key areas of focus include: Meter to Cash to identify and put in place action plans to ensure that WUC measures consumption accurately and collects revenue timely across all business centres, Debt Management to address the Corporation increasing debt through review and optimisation of debt management related processes. Post SOE the Corporation will implement its policies that regulate the management of traders’ debt. However, customers will be granted a one month buffer to make good their accounts, and/ or negotiate debt payment plans, which have been extended from three to six months.

Under water resources and supply, Senai said so far, the Corporation operates nine dams and about 904 boreholes. Water is also sourced from South Africa through the Molatedi Dam through the TSWASA Agreement for supply to Greater Gaborone area and the Kalahari East Water Association under the auspices of the Orange Senqu River Commission ( ORASECOM) for supply to the Middlepits area.

The perennial rivers of Chobe and Okavango supply the Kasane and its associated satellite villages, while the Okavango River supplies the Okavango region. He said the provision of water services to Batswana, by the Corporation has not been without challenges.

The supply- demand balance has been under significant pressure from population dynamics as well as geographic spread of the villages to areas less endowed with water resources.

The North South Water Carrier ( NSC) was a result of this realisation and while it has significantly reduced acute water shortages in the Greater Gaborone area, this is still not enough as some of the villages off the NSC grid and dam supply continue to suffer acute water shortages.

On average the Corporation supplies 310Ml/ day, million litres per day, against demand of 363Ml/ day leaving a deficit of about 53Ml/ day. The ongoing Commissioning of the Masama wellfields is expected to provide a further 34ML/ day to about 60ML/ day to the supply regime and will significantly reduce the deficit. He said there are about 52 clusters with acute water shortages brought about by supply inadequacy, poor quality, infrastructure constraint and excessive leakage which on average measures about 39 percent.

In order to address the water supply challenges, the Corporation has adopted a three- pronged strategy. Firstly WUC has embarked on massive public awareness campaigns through news releases to the local media describing present conditions and water supply outlook.

Under Demand Management Intervention the Corporation also reviewed its Non- Revenue Water Management strategy which is currently on the implementation phase in Francistown and major villages such Serowe, Molepolole, Letlhakane, Tonota, Moshupa, Thamaga, Mahalapye and Palapye.

Senai said in order to increase water supplies the Corporation has embarked on the implementation of both NDP 11 and World Bank Group funded Botswana Emergency Water Supply Efficiency project, rehabilitation of boreholes showing a decline in yield and acquiring a new Drilling Rig and drilling new boreholes in areas hard hit with water shortages.

The Corporation’s operational performance during COVID- 19 pandemic has greatly improved, owing to decisive and aggressive measures intended to combat the spread of the pandemic as water is of the key measures in the control of the disease. The average supply hours per day for the Corporation stood at 21.7 hrs, which is slightly lower than the target of 22hrs. Water supply coverage of 95 percent was also achieved across the country and where supply challenges are experienced and supply is augmented by bowsing. This is categorised as 80 percent yard connection and 15 percent public standpipes and bowsing.

Public standpipes remained available for use by community members who do not have access to piped water. From a total of 3972 prepaid standpipes, 1548 standpipes are functional. From a total of 36,255 customers who were disconnected a total of 36,046 were reconnected to ensure that water remains available to all citizenries.