GWCL Disconnects Over 500 Customers In Northern Region

The Northern Regional Office of the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) has disconnected over 500 customers including Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) who owe the company several thousands of Ghana cedis.

The decision, according to GWCL Communications Officer in-charge of the Northern Region Nicholas Nii-Abbey, was informed by a new reform introduced by the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing.

The Reform dubbed “High Impact Performance Improvement Programme, (HIPIP)” was rolled out in March 2015. Following this, Nii-Abbey said a performance contract was signed between the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing and the Board of GWCL whereas the GWCL Board also on the other hand signed a similar contract with Managing Director and all Regional as well as District Management of GWCL in all ten regions.

As part of this programme, he indicated that, each regional and district management as well as the managing director of GWCL were given targets to meet under the performance contract. “As a result of this, each district and region is engaged in massive revenue mobilisation in order to meet targets set under the performance contract”, Nii-Abbey stressed.     

Nii-Abbey would not give names of clients owing GWCL except to say they include ordinary household clients, public and private institutions as well as businesses.

“So far, GWCL in the Northern Region has been able to meet the baseline target set for it under the performance contract in the first phase of the high impact performance improvement programme. We’ve been able to mobilise over GH¢500,000.00 from clients who owed us several months of arrears”, he told Savannahnews.

Meanwhile, clients of the GWCL in the Northern Region as at March 2015 owed the company over GH¢3million in arrears. With this ongoing exercise, GWCL according to its Communications Officer, would be able to retrieve substantial amount of the arrears clients owed the company.