Prioritise payment of water bills, says Muteteka
By Mwila Chansa in Kitwe
Thu 24 Mar. 2011, 04:01 CAT
LOCAL government deputy minister Moses Muteteka (above) has urged Zambians not to neglect paying for water because the commodity is a basic need for a good and healthy life.
And Nkana Water and Sewerage Company board chairperson William Nyirenda cited illegal connections, high customer arrears and pollution of raw water sources as some of the challenges his firm was facing in their quest to provide water and sewerage services to the public.
Commemorating the World Water Day in Kitwe’s Mulenga compound on Tuesday, Muteteka observed that the tendency by some people not to pay their water bills was more of an act of neglect rather than lack of capacity to pay because water bills were a mere token fee compared to other services.
“It is amazing that some people spend money on mobile phone airtime, pay television networks and drink beer daily but neglect to pay for water which is a basic need for a good and healthy life,” Muteteka said.
He said people needed to support water utility firms if they were to adequately serve the public.
“These utility companies need huge sums of money for rehabilitating and constructing water supply and sanitation facilities and for operation and maintenance,” Muteteka said.
“They also need to pay other service providers such as Zesco for electricity used for pumping water and other companies for chemicals used for treating water and sewerage.”
He said provision of safe and clean water was therefore not free as some people would want to make the public believe.
Muteteka also said the government was concerned about the poor state of sanitation facilities in Kitwe’s Wusakile township and that K4 billion had already been spent on rehabilitating and constructing new facilities in the same township.
And Nyirenda said dilapidated infrastructure, low metering coverage, overstretched water treatment facilities, overloaded sewer system, vandalism of infrastructure installations and mushrooming of unplanned settlements were great challenges for the water utility’s quest to provide water and sewerage services to its customers.
Labels: NKANA WATER AND SEWAGE COMPANY, WATER
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KCM pollutes Kafue River again
By Kabanda Chulu in Kitwe
Fri 14 Jan. 2011, 04:00 CAT
KONKOLA Copper Mine has polluted the Kafue River again. And Environmental Council of Zambia (ECZ) northern region manager Patson Zulu has called for the imposition of serious punitive measures against KCM for its continued pollution of the Kafue River.
But KCM head of corporate affairs Jacqueline Kabeta requested for a written press query before commenting on the matter. In an interview yesterday, Zulu said KCM informed ECZ about the incident on Tuesday.
“KCM reported that they had a problem with a Zesco power line to one of the pumps and they shut down the concentrator and the tailings leach plant but we suspect that by the time they took this action, impurities had already over flown into the river since preliminary results indicate the presence of heavy metals in the Kafue River ,” Zulu said.
“We are waiting for latest results to ascertain the level of contamination but as at last night (Wednesday) the situation was the same and we are not thinking of taking KCM to court but we shall impose serious punitive measures which I can’t disclose now.”
Nkana Water and Sewerage Company on Wednesday, temporarily shutdown water supply in Kitwe as a precautionary measure following reports of suspected pollution of the Kafue River by KCM.
Mulonga Water managing director Manuel Mutale said operations were normal since the company was able to treat the levels of impurities in the river.
“But we are still carrying out tests and also waiting for ECZ to complete their investigations and advise what to do. We only shutdown when our tests reveal higher levels of impurity content which we can’t treat,” said Mutale.
And Earth Organisation Zambia executive director Lovemore Muma said it was unfortunate that KCM had failed to keep its assurances that pollution of the Kafue River would not happen again.
Labels: KAFUE, KCM, KITWE, MANUEL MUTALE, NKANA WATER AND SEWAGE COMPANY, POLLUTION
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Nkana Water cuts supply to police camps, nurses’ hostels
Written by Zumani Katasefa in Kitwe
Monday, August 17, 2009 2:08:01 AM
NKANA Water and Sewerage Company (NWSC) has disconnected water supply to two police camps in Kitwe, including the nurses’ hostels at Kitwe Central Hospital.
This follows a government debt of about K7 billion in unpaid water bills.
NWSC commercial manager, Kenneth Chense, disclosed this on Friday. He complained that discussions with concerned ministries to have them settle the bills had not been fruitful, hence the action to disconnect water.
Chense explained that the Ministry of Local Government and Housing expected water firms to collect debt owed to it by consumers, including government.
“These government institutions have owed us [from] as far back as 14 months. We’re not able to meet our day-to-day obligations because of this debt,” Chense said. “Nothing is forthcoming from government; we have done our best and we are not getting positive results.”
He said the firm did its best to try and negotiate with the Ministry of Home Affairs over the unpaid water bills but nothing materialised.
“We have also disconnected water from the nurses hostels at Kitwe Central Hospital over a K2 billion debt in unpaid water bills,” he said.
Chense said the water utility firm required K4 billion every month to effectively deliver services to its clients.
And some police officers who spoke on condition of anonymity have urged the government to consider settling the water bills to NWSC.
“The disconnection of water from our police camps will definitely have a negative impact on our performance. Already as police officers, we are burdened with a lot of problems, so it just important that the government should move in fast and save us from experiencing more problems,” they said.
They also revealed that other police camps in Kalulushi and Chambishi have had their water disconnected because of debts.
Labels: NKANA WATER AND SEWAGE COMPANY
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Nkana Water in need of US $120 million
Written by Chiwoyu Sinyangwe
Tuesday, December 30, 2008 1:23:51
NKANA Water and Sewerage Company (NWSC) needs over US $120 million for the improvement of its infrastructure to cope with the existing and increasing demand for water supply and sewerage services.
In an interview, managing director Diana Makwaba also acknowledged the challenges that
rapidly expanding towns such as Kitwe, Kalulushi and Chambishi were putting on the water utility.
Last week, the government contracted a US $57 million loan from African Development Bank (AfDB) on behalf of the water utility for improvement of water reticulation to the areas supplied by NWSC.
Makwaba said dilapidated and overloaded infrastructure was one of the factors affecting the smooth operation of the company and the provision of quality services.
She also said the investment was necessary to improve service delivery and place the company on the path to self-sustainability.
"This loan by the African Development Bank will greatly assist us to quickly rehabilitate and expand a substantial part of our infrastructure and in turn help us achieve sustainable service provision,” Makwaba said.
“As a company, we remain committed to the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by ensuring that a larger part of our population have access to clean water whilst at the same extend our water reticulation network to dry areas, peri-urban and new residential areas."
And Makwaba commended the government for contracting the loan on behalf of the NWSC, saying that this clearly demonstrated the government’s commitment to improving water and sanitation provision to its people.
“We greatly appreciate this financial support which, no doubt, substantially augments our own efforts directed towards service delivery improvement to all our customers,” said Makwaba.
Labels: DIANA MAKWABA, NKANA WATER AND SEWAGE COMPANY, UTILITIES
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