NWSC STRUGGLES WITH OPERATIONS AS GOVT ENTITIES DEFAULT
The defaulters include the Uganda Prison Service Commission, the Uganda Police Force, and the Ministry of Defense.
By Christopher Nyeko
GULU: The National Water and Sewerage Corporation’s (NWSC) Gulu branch is struggling with operation as a number of government entities within Gulu city have reportedly defaulted on paying their water bill.
The defaulters include the Uganda Prison Service Commission, the Uganda Police Force, and the Ministry of Defense.
Ivan Tekakwo, the public relations officer of the NWSC Northern Region, told this publication that last month they projected to collect a total of 6.3 billion shillings but collected less, leaving them in a quandary.
The record extracted from the official records of the NWSC shows that the three major government entities have accumulated debts of 3.957 billion shillings since this year began.
The breakdown shows that the Uganda Prison Service has some arrears of 1.133 billion shillings, the Uganda Police Force 1.661 billion shillings, and the Ministry of Defense 1.161 billion shillings’ debts, respectively.
The water was supplied to these entities through two NWSC water reservoirs, which are in Gulu Main and Lacor.
The beneficiaries are Gulu Government Main Prison, Gulu Prisons Primary School, and Gulu Remand Home in Pece, while from the police sectors, water was also supplied to Vanguard Primary School, Police Nursery Primary School, Police Barracks, and Gulu Central Police Station. From the defense site, water was supplied to the fourth division infantry division headquarters in Gulu and the defense airbase.
According to Tekakwo, the corporation has written several letters to the defaulting entities, but only to say that they are claiming economic hardship, which has hindered their cash flow.
Tekakwo added that due to unpaid bills, the cooperation has now paused the extension of the water pipeline to other annex parts of the city. He also revealed that their operation vehicles are no longer in operation and are now currently packed at their regional office.
He added that they have received a directive from the managing director that has ordered them to disconnect all the entities that have failed to pay their water bill by July 1.
When contacted, Margaret Orik Obonyo, the Aswa River Region Prisons commander, and Nachuha Damali, the Aswa regional police commander, said that all their utilities bills are paid from their headquarters in Kampala.
They, however, disputed that their respective offices haven’t been served with any letters by the National Water and Sewerage Corporation.
We couldn’t get a comment from Maj. Telesphor Turyamumanya, the 4th Division Spokesman, since his known phone number was unavailable at the time of publishing this story.
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