Accra, July 19, GNA - The Ghana Water Company Limited

(GWCL) has made losses of about 60 per cent of water

produced due to illegal practices such as multiple connections

and tampering with meters. Mr Kenneth Ennin, Regional Commercial Officer of the

Company, said in Accra on Wednesday that such activities did

not allow for accurate reading of the meters. He made this known at a public forum to educate and

encourage water vendors within the Konkomba Market area to

form an association, where members would be registered and

given the mandate to operate. Mr Ennin said the Company would negotiate with registered

vendors, who would be given an estimated flat rate to help the

Company to account for its water supply and check the

activities of illegal operators in the area. He said the Company would on August 1, launch a special

operation by its Loss Control Task Force and the Police to

track down and disconnect all illegal pipelines. Mr Ennin noted that GWCL needed money to provide

essential services to the public and, therefore, called on all

Ghanaians to collaborate with it to arrest individuals, who were

engaged in such activities. Mr Francis Lamptey, Regional Surveyor of GWCL, said the

Company needed new pipelines, fuel for vehicles and the

provision of new machines to improve service delivery. He said a survey around the Konkomba vicinity showed that

most water vendors had engaged in illegal connections for

their commercial activities leading to losses to the company. He cautioned the water operators not to engage the

services of quack plumbers when laying pipelines. "If you want

to lay pipelines, contact the GWCL and do not do anything on

your own, otherwise, you will go behind the bars." Mr Thomas Ahuno, one of the water vendors, said trucks

which offloaded goods at the market washed their trucks from

illegal sources deep in the night. He advised water vendors to be open and transparent in

their dealings with GWCL.