Head of the Public Affairs Directorate of the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL), Stanley Martey has disclosed that regardless of the President’s directive on the free supply of water to all Ghanaians for the next 3 months, not all citizens will enjoy the directive.
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Outlining the groups of people who will benefit from the directive on Happy98.9FM’s Happy Morning Show he said, “The objective for the President’s directive is to make water free for domestic purposes only. But those using the water for industrial purposes will not have it for free.”
He went on to add that citizens who have had their water supply disconnected over some accumulated debt will also not enjoy the free water supply. “Those who had their water supply disconnected before the directive are entitled to free water but we will only reconnect their pipes if they pay their debts. If they can’t make the full payment, we can come to an agreement with them and agree to take part payments and connect them back to the grid. It won’t be fair to be reconnected when they owe us,” he explained.
On his authority, citizens in some deprived areas without access to potable water will also be catered for. He urged people in these communities to inform their assembly members who will then report to the district offices of the GWCL for that provision to be made for them. He said, “The GWCL, NADMO, the National Security and some private water suppliers will all make their tankers available for this exercise. Poly tanks will then be mounted in such communities for the distribution of the water.”
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He however encouraged those selling water in the various communities to open up their taps for free and assured them that some compensations will be made available for them. “Those who sell for commercial purposes in the community for a living should stop selling. They should come to our offices and go through a registration process which will put them on a payroll. We will change their category to another where they can provide the water for free and provide them with some compensation.”
As part of government’s support to Ghanaians, all citizens are to enjoy free water for 3 months as indicated in President Akufo-Addo’s fifth address to the nation on Sunday on how to deal with the COVID-19 virus.
By: Joel Sanco