LWSC switches off consumers to recover K140 million

Sat, 14 Jan 2017 09:59:46 +0000

By CHIKUMBI KATEBE

 LUSAKA Water and Sewerage Company has launched a massive debt recovery campaign of water supply and sewerage services to compel customers to pay their bills in an effort to recover the K140 million owed in unpaid bills.

LWSC head of marketing and public relations Topsy Sikalinda said the company has put in place several strategies to try and recover as much as possible from the huge amount being owed in unpaid bills by customers.

He said as a utility service provider, their initial strategy was to engage defaulters, including corporate houses, in what they are calling “Operation 90 days” to help them offset the debts within the prescribed period.

“We have come up with what we are calling ‘Operation 90 days’ in which we expect our customers to work with us and pay up their dues within the prescribed period, but if the engagement fails, we shall be forced to withdraw water supply.

“However, what we have realised is that withdrawal of water supply is not as effective in compelling customers to pay as when we cut the sewer services, so we hope we do not get to that extreme,” he said. Recently, LWCS disclosed that they were owed over K140 million in unpaid bills from both domestic and corporate customers in the last five years. This has contributed to the poor service provision as the company was unable to grow its systems and work on damaged lines and equipment without Government support.

But Mr Sikalinda explained that it would be unfortunate to resort to such extreme measures just to recover money which people could easily pay as they had already used the services for which payment was being demanded. He explained that there were several payment plans put in place which people could easily choose from instead of waiting to be disconnected from the service lines. He has since called on members of the public to cooperate with the utility and help in their recovery plan for improved service provision and efficiency. “Our appeal is that we do not go that far, but instead our customers must come to us and engage for a better repayment system for the benefit of both parties,” he said.