State discourages water tariff increase

SYLIVESTER DOMASA in Dodoma

Minister for Water and Irrigation, Engineer Gerson Lwenge

THE government has issued fresh directives restricting water authorities from inflating domestic consumption bills, but begin a more aggressive programme of repairing and replacing water mains, pumping stations and connecting more customers to supply lines.

The Minister for Water and Irrigation, Engineer Gerson Lwenge, said this when launching water utilities performance review report for the Financial Year 2015/2016 prepared by the Energy and Water Utility Regulatory Authority (EWURA).

"There is no need to double water bills now," he said. He added that water authorities must now identify, manage and protect all water sources across the country. They should also operate as business entities. "We must change.

We need to adopt new systems ... authorities should now start supplying water in bulk," he said, pointing at the Dar es Salaam Water and Sewerage Authority (Dawasa). He said that Dawasa will from now on be supplying bulk water as a producer while Dar es Salaam Water and Supply Corporation (Dawasco) will chiefly concentrate in the sales.

"This initiative will not need to double water prices," he added. According to the minister, a number of water authorities are recording the highest non-revenue water and had not installed automatic water metering systems for their customers.

He said only 19 water authorities out of 26 countrywide had connected their customers to supply lines and thus more action must be taken. He added that one third of the pumping stations were not working.

He said it was unfortunate that some urban and rural areas were facing water shortages while infrastructures have been in place for years. We need all pumping stations to produce water by 95 per cent come 2020, he stressed.

Ewura Board Chairman, Prof Jamidu Katima, told the Water and Irrigation minister the status of water production across the country was bleak. "We need to invest heavily in water production and supply. Water leakage is still a major problem among water authorities.

Many are facing technical and commercial problems," he said when presenting the report here yesterday. According to the Chairman, the government and stakeholders need to rehabilitate and build new water infrastructures in order to ensure that more people access the precious liquid. In addition, he said only 11 out of 21 water authorities have sewer systems.

The Deputy Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Water and Irrigation, Engineer Emmanuel Kalobelo, said that water production increased to 248 million cubic metres in 2016 from 235 million cubic metres a day in 2015.

He said the ministry is now undertaking comprehensive evaluation to ensure that all areas are connected or supplied with water. EWURA Director General, Engineer Felix Ngamlagosi, said that the report involved 33 water authorities, 23 of which are regional and eight are national.

According to the report, Moshi water authority graduated to Grade A from Grade three after meeting the standards set by the regulator.

The authority becomes second after Tanga which was accredited last year. Moshi Water Authority was awarded the service provider benchmark conquering Songea and Tanga which came third and second respectively.