KAMPALA – The Managing Director of National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC), Eng. Silver Mugisha has warned customers across the country to be vigilant about the security of their water meters after reports emerged that thieves have started vandalizing the items for scrap.
Mugisha made the revelation today during a press briefing at NWSC head offices in Kampala where he said that although the vice has been on, this escalated in February with approximately 120 meters lost weekly.
He explained: “Of recent, the Corporation has been faced with the increased challenge of stealing water meters by unscrupulous members of the public. It is suspected that the vice is being perpetuated by the metal foundry and scrap dealers.”
Mugisha called on members of the public to be vigilant and help in identifying the wrong elements describing their actions as economic sabotage that is likely to affect achievements registered by the corporation.
He explained: “On average, we lose about 120 meters per week. This translates into about Shs40-Shs50M per month. This is a significant disruption to the corporation’s services and amount to economic sabotage to the country.”
Mugisha also admitted that the Corporation is faced with challenges of limited water supply, a trend he blamed on the increased demand but assured the Corporation’s customers that the entity is using a combination of internally generated funds as well as Government and donor funds to increase water supply to meet and exceed demand.
He cited the construction of a new water treatment plant at Katosi that will bring on board 160million litres of water per day to boost the 240million litre water produced daily as one of the actions that will end the water crisis within the next two years.
