GOVERNMENT, through the National Water and Sanitation Council (NWASCO), is in the process of making the water supply and sanitation tariffs cost reflective.
Water Development and Sanitation Permanent Secretary, Joe Kalusa said the water utility companies were incurring huge costs for treating raw water into clean and safe water.
Mr Kalusa said the companies were working with tariffs, which were last adjusted between 2017 and 2019, and yet the utilities’ cost structure for their operations was not the same.
Mr Kalusa was speaking in Kitwe during a presentation by Nkana Water Supply and Sanitation Company Managing Director, Diana Makwaba.
And Mr Kalusa hinted that the ministry was also working at revising the laws governing the water and sanitation sector.
He explained that the ministry wanted to stiffen punishment for unscrupulous people vandalising water supply and sanitation infrastructure.
Meanwhile, Mr Kalusa urged Nkana Water Supply and Sanitation Company to quantify government debt and ensure that it follows up on payments, because every department has a budgetary allocation for water supply and sanitation. – MILLENNIUM TV.
Author
