PREPAYING FOR WATER
SUPPLY IS NOT IN TUNE WITH GHANA’S DEVELOPMENT STATUS
David Azuliya
January 16, 2014
Just yesterday, the nation’s airwaves were busy chanting
both praise and lamentation over a planned intention of
the Ghana Water Company Ltd to introduce and implement a
pre-paid metering service for water supply in the
country by the end of the year 2014. It must be noted
that this is not the first time such a plan has been
divulged into the public since a similar statement of
intent came on air in the latter part of November 2012.
Even though the Ghana Water Company Ltd is justifiable
for such intentions as it will ensure efficient revenue
collection and subsequent investment to improve quality
of delivery and extend the coverage of supply. It is a
known fact that the Ghana Water Company Ltd has made
several requests to the Public Utilities Regulatory
Commission for increases in utility tariffs over
countless number of times for the reason of poor
financial capability.
Also, it is not a surprise that consumers have often
been stretched to their limit whereby they are unable to
access water for periods ranging between days and
months. It is this poor delivery of service that has
often caused public anger over attempts by the utility
companies to seek utility price increases. It should
therefore, be of delight to all consumers when the Ghana
Water Company Ltd undertakes measures to improve revenue
collection so as to ensure improved supply of quality
water.
In Namibia, the implementation of a pre-paid metering
service has been much of a blessing as expectations of
consumers are not far from reality in water delivery.
This follows the implementation of one such project by
TagMeter Namibia in many cities around the country
including the capital city of Windhoek. According to
many, it has resolved the problems of having air
spurting out anytime the tap is opened as against the
expectation of gushing water. Such a project is now
being thought of as the key to Africa’s potable water
delivery especially in the urban areas. Therefore, it is
no surprise that such a project has become an option for
the Ghana Water Company Ltd.
However, it is not an easy way to solve the problems of
people by ensuring strict payment systems even when same
has the potential of depriving many of access to a basic
necessity like water.
First of all, it ought to be a question of whether the
country has reached that position where access to safe
water is no more the priority but the plunging revenue
situation of the utility company. In this regard, it is
not ripe for the Ghana Water Company Ltd to start
concentrating on the revenue and expenditure balance
when as many as over six million Ghanaians are without
access to safe drinking water. In a developing country
like Ghana as in many others around the world, efforts
to improve living standards and improve sanitation and
health are expressed in the rolling out of social
intervention programs including supply of safe drinking
water. Any effort at this point in our development to
intensify privatization and commercialization of basic
necessities of life would be premature and inhumane.
First of all, the pre-paid metering service in use by
the Electricity Company of Ghana has several challenges
that one ought to be careful not to transfer to water
supply since water is a basic necessity. One such
challenge is the fact that technical problems associated
with it often leave consumers of electricity in the dark
for a number of days before such problems are later
resolved. The question one will ask is as to whether it
is easy to cope without water in the same manner as with
electricity.
Any attempt to commercialize access to water in this
manner is a violation of the fundamental human right to
life itself and an attempt to redistribute such right
according to the economic status of the people. This
argument recognizes the social configuration of the
Ghanaian society as mostly vulnerable and poor. In
effect, asking people to pay before using water is a
statement to the effect that one of the free gifts of
nature necessary for life must be paid for. This is
dangerous not just because it will lead to limited
access to water; but also because it will further widen
the gap between the rich and the poor in terms of living
standards even with regards to life’s most vital
commodity.
Another dimension of opposition to this project stands
in the area of health. This is because very serious
outbreaks of sanitation related diseases such as cholera
sometimes back in the major cities of Accra and Kumasi
have been fatal. In Zimbabwe where a similar project was
being planned, opposition stirred up the health debate
by justifying negative implications of it in terms of
poor sanitation especially in slum areas which are
mostly inhabited by poor people. They supported their
argument with the events of 2008 and 2009 when serious
sanitation problems occasioned by insufficient access to
potable water led to more than 4,000 deaths. In Ghana,
the sanitation situation is already not good enough and
as such it should be a point to note that such a project
has serious problems relating to the very health of the
people.
No matter how long it will take the Ghana Water Company
Ltd to implement such a project, it will not be a
surprise that communities will wage against it
especially when water pumping machines are situated in
such communities drawing and pumping water from their
reservoirs. It is not new that very often the
communities where water is drawn and pumped to the major
cities are deficient in terms of access to potable
water. That alone has caused deep seated resentment to
the activities of the Ghana Water Company Ltd and as
such, extending it beyond the elbow can be detrimental.
For instance, in many communities where water pipes ran
through to the cities, faults and damages to them have
often being good news to residents who sometimes carry
out the damage themselves.
The Ghana Water Company Ltd should not be surprised that
a project of this nature might inflame already huge
public anger in remote communities and lead to vandalism
of pipelines and other property of the Company.
Bearing this in mind, it is my opinion that the Ghana
Water Company Ltd should not implement such a project in
whole across the country. What ought to be done is to
identify agencies that depend on water from the Ghana
Water Company Ltd for purely commercial activities. This
will be an attempt to reduce impact on poor rural
communities and residential areas since such categories
depend on it as an essential commodity. This is laudable
in view of the fact that residential usage of water is
insignificant as compared to commercial usage. Apart
from this, concentration can also be on dense urban
areas as against rural areas since most rural dwellers
do not even have access to tap water delivered by the
Ghana Water Company Ltd and as such, it might be
inconsequential in extending the project to such areas.
However, if the Ghana Water Company Ltd succeeds in
implementing such a project, it will be incumbent on
government to intervene to salvage the plight of
minorities. Over the years, governments have undertaken
to provide access to good drinking water especially to
rural communities through the drilling of boreholes.
This ought to be intensified to reduce the over 6
million people in the country who have no access to safe
drinking water.
It is my believe and that of many citizens that the
Ghana Water Company Ltd does not operate in a vacuum and
as such government can bring reason to bear on its
intentions. At this particular point when every aspect
of life in our country is overly commercialized and
burdened with high tariffs and costs, it is not good
enough for government to isolate itself from the
intentions of the Ghana Water Company Ltd even when same
will add to the burden of the people.
Government must be reminded that its citizens are not
foreigners and as such any attempts at making life
costly and over-burdensome on the people might result in
severe security concerns as happens in many countries
especially in Brazil during the Confederations Cup in
2013.
Water is a basic necessity of life and it must be the
duty of every government to provide limitless access not
just to water in general, but to safe drinking water.
Improving sanitation and its related diseases is a
global concern and any government that falls behind in
this regard risks losing out on the respect and support
of the world community.
By
David Azuliya
Mobile: 050-5005-012
Email: apaladola@mail.com
