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Dawasco loses 2.5bn/- a month to `defaulters`
2008-04-23 09:34:16
By Njonanje Samwel
The Dar es Salaam Water and Sewerage Corporation (Dawasco) has said it loses a monthly 2.5bn/- in unpaid water bills, mostly by well-to-do customers.
As a result, it has announced, it will now take legal action against customers not settling their bills and those who have their supply lines cut for non-payment of bills.
The bad news to bad debtors was broken in the city yesterday by Dawasco Public Relations Manager Badra Masoud during an operation to disconnect water supply to defaulters.
She cited the example of 11 customers with unpaid bills amounting to 10.52m/- who went without water in an operation recently carried out at Kawe and Mbezi Beach in Kinondoni Municipality.
Dawasco uses the media every month to remind people on the need to pay their water bills, she explained, adding that sometimes the firm is compelled to carry out ``the stringent and painful`` exercise of disconnecting water supply as a last resort.
``We are starved of about 2.5bn/- monthly in unsettled water bills. We recently had a wrangle with some of our customers. We know this is not a good way of dealing with our customers but we had no option but to ensure we did not find ourselves in the ditch,`` stated Masoud.
She said they have been using different ways to encourage their customers to pay their bills but with little success, adding that their legal office was now sorting out the names of ``stubborn or defiant customers`` not paying their bills even after supply was cut.
``We have issued them with notices to pay up but few have come over to us. We will sort out the names carefully before taking legal action,`` she noted.
The corporation`s Revenue Manager, Mrisho Mtowela, said that the plan under the long-awaited ``infill pipes`` project was for customers living less than 20 metres away from Dawasco pipes to have water brought right to their doorsteps.
The Dar es Salaam Water and Sewerage Authority (Dawasa) and Dawasco have signed an agreement to fund the project, he noted, elaborating: ``Dawasa has agreed to cover the costs of supplying water to those customers.``
He said once a customer is supplied with water, Dawasco would register and open an account with him or her to expedite payments for the service.
Mtowela expressed hope that the project would reduce the amount of water that goes unaccounted for ``which is usually lost between Dawasco`s main pipes and customers` taps``. He said other benefits would include increasing efficiency in serving customers.
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