Dar assured of more reliable water supply
 
2005-07-24 07:37:25
By Bilal Abdul-Aziz

	The Minister of Water and Livestock Development, Edward Lowassa,unveils the new Dawasco logo at the function to officially inaugurate the Dawasco Board of Directors and launch a rescue plan at the firm`s headquarters in DSM.

The Dar es Salaam Water and Sewerage Corporation (Dawasco) introduced its new Board of directors with a promise to redress the water situation in Dar es Salaam.

Water and Livestock Development Minister Edward Lowassa, inaugurated the 9-member Dawasco Board of Directors and its 100-day rescue plan at a colourful ceremony held in Dar es Salaam on Friday.

The government formed Dawasco in May this year, to replace the private water firm, City Water Services Ltd, which failed to deliver water services, as per contractual agreement.

In his statement on the occasion, the minister said that the new state authority must work hard to meet expectations, as the government and the people of Dar es Salaam want it to deliver and nothing else.

’’The water situation in the city is still bad… as your slogan says, ’our unity is our success,’ I urge you to work together and meet expectations of the government and people,’’ said Lowassa.

He said that the government and people wanted the new authority to increase revenue collection, curb rampant illegal connections and arrange a reliable water-rationing schedule.

’’We are facing a great challenge of proving that local initiatives and the local people can do even better than foreigners,’’ he said, adding that Dawasco’s partnership with the National Water and Sewerage Corporation of Uganda was promising and timely.

The government of Uganda once hired a foreign private firm to deliver water services in Kampala City, but they faced similar problems, terminated the contract and gave the responsibility to a state corporation, which was doing a good job, he said.

Lowassa said that Dawasco must solve the problem of leakage in its distribution system, provide water kiosks in areas not covered by its distribution system and improve workers’ remuneration.

He commended Dawasco for drawing the 100-day rescue plan and described it as a promising initiative that had already recorded good results only in its first six weeks of implementation.

Hinting on some of the achievements of the plan, he said that the corporation had increased revenue collection by 12.5 per cent, from 1.05bn/- in May to 1.2bn/- last month.

Additionally, he said a number of areas, which had never enjoyed a drop of tap water for years, had started getting water and earned the authority more revenue.

He added that Dawasco, in collaboration with Dawasa, which implements the 164bn/- World Bank and African Development Bank funded project, can make a difference and bring water back to the city.

Earlier, Dawasco Chief Executive Officer, Alex Kaaya, said that his corporation had inherited many problems from City Water, including a demoralized staff, poor infrastructure, illegal connections, incorrect water bills and low distribution capacity.

He explained that the amount of water pumped in the distribution system daily is 254,000 cubic metres, which is 90 per cent, but only 45 per cent of it reaches customers.

Thousands of gallons of water are being lost on the way due to leaks and unauthorized connections, Kaaya said.
He said that his corporation would adopt an approach that the water authority in Kampala employed with success, and said his team was optimistic to prove right local initiatives and efforts in service delivery.

Kaaya said that Dawasco would also use a special brand, which was launched yesterday with the intention of making it known to all people it serves in offices, homes and streets.

The 100-day rescue plan, implemented from this month to September, had been targeted to curb illegal water connections and increase revenue collections, he said, adding that a one-year plan would be drawn later to follow the current plan.

On her part, the Chairman of the inaugurated Board of Directors, Blandina Nyoni, said there was a tough job ahead, but promised that the new authority would deliver and meet expectations of the government and people of Dar es Salaam.

’’Dawasco is set to meet goals and expectations. It will honour its workers and customers,’’ she said.
Government notice number 139 of May 20, 2005 formed Dawasco, under the law governing public institutions of 1992, according to the minister. The new authority started work officially on June 1, this year.

• SOURCE: Sunday Observer