High-consuming customers still owe millions—WUC
Mompati Tlhankane | Tuesday September 20, 2022 15:07
“They owe more money than the government,” WUC CEO Gaselemogwe Senai told the media in a press conference earlier today at Gaborone Dam. He revealed that the overall customer debt including businesses stands at over P1 billion. Senai further disclosed that over P780 million of this debt is attributed to domestic customers.
He said domestic customers contribute 21% to their revenue but consume 94% of the water distribution. In terms of tariffs, Senai indicated that the domestic customers are also charged way low for the cost of production of water. He said most of the high bills which have been worrying domestic customers are caused by estimation.
He said the major contributor to their revenue has been government and councils at 59%. “Ironically, government consumes 1.8 percent of water distribution”. Senai said their financial status reflects a difficult financial year that the country endured during the COVID-19 pandemic. Senai also said they realised total revenue of just over P2 billion and it is an increase of 14% compared to the revenue they reported last year.
He emphasised that their financial position remains stable despite the excessive debt that has engulfed the business. The WUC CEO said they have embarked on steadfast debt collection methods and are working on their metre-reading efficiencies.
He indicated that last year dams were filled except Gaborone and Molatedi dams. “As the financial year ended all our nine dams except Gaborone were above 70%. The total water supply was 819 million cubic metres compared to 961 million cubic metres in 2021 translating to an average of 74% which is a downfall from 87% last year, a significant reduction in supply capacity,” he further revealed.
He said with the current dam levels they should still be able to sustain water supply until the next rainy season. Senai pointed out that according to the Meteorological department the seasonal outlook is quite optimistic. He said they are looking for flash floods to fill up Gaborone Dam because normal rainfall cannot fill the latter as other dams do in the north.