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Water disconnection staff get a hard time
2008-01-19 09:07:47
By Jane Mkonya
A water disconnection mission by four Dar es Salaam Water and Sewerage Corporation (Dawasco) ended on a sour note yesterday.
Reports say they were held hostage and beaten up by an irate customer in the city`s posh Mikocheni area.
The customer reported to have been involved in the incident was identified as Kale Balyanga.
He is said to have resisted an attempt by the Dawasco staff to disconnect water at his residence, allegedly detaining and beat them up for at least four hours before releasing them.
The names of the workers were given as Riziki Ernest, Dickson Charles, Mathias Millinga and Shamte Saidi.
Sources said things went wrong soon after the workers began the water disconnection at the residence - House No. 1108 at Mikocheni Bonde la Mpunga.
According to Millinga, Balyanga ``warmly`` welcomed the team to his residence but soon locked the gates, ordered them to surrender all their working tools and started beating them up.
He claimed that they were released minutes after the arrival of journalists who were hinted on the incident.
But Balyanga denied having detained or attacked the Dawasco staff, pointing out that all he had done was to stop them from continuing with the water disconnection ``because I do not owe Dawasco a cent in unpaid bills``.
But the corporation`s official records and copies of bills presented by Balyanga, he is yet to pay some 680,000/- in accumulated water bills.
Dawasco Public Relations Manager Badra Masoud described as ``the growing tendency by some of our customers harassing or threatening our staff dispatched to fulfil their duties in field``.
``The tendency has become endemic, particularly among people considered to be friends or family members of high-ranking government officials,`` she said.
However, she explained that Dawasco has legal authority to enter the premises of any of its customers for official business - including taking meter readings and doing routine maintenance of water infrastructure.
The corporation launched a special operation at the end of last year that has seen it disconnect water from customers defaulting on their monthly bills.
There have been complaints from some customers that the exercise, which can be as harsh as uprooting distribution lines serving groups of customers with huge or long-standing unpaid bills, has not always been fair, smooth or focused.
Dawasco customers in a number of areas in the city and its suburbs have gone without water for months running but they have continued to receive bills throughout.
Water minister Shukuru Kawambwa has openly declared that he is unhappy with the harshness with which the corporation has been treating some of its customers.
Meanwhile, Dawasco has announced that most parts of Dar es Salaam will face an acute shortage of tap water this weekend following the ``sabotaging`` of its distribution network and intensive maintenance at the Ruvu pumping stations.
Masoud told journalists yesterday that the incidence of vandalism and sabotage on the Dawasco supply network has risen over the last few months, mainly targeting iron and plastic pipes.
Areas expected to be most hit by the shortage include Mbagala Kibonde Maji, Mabibo, City centre and Mburahati.
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