Customers of the Ghana Water Company Limited in the Central Region owe the company GH¢134.3 million, some dating back four years.

Chief among those owing are educational institutions, which owe GH¢78.8 million.

Tertiary institutions owe GH¢53.6 million, with senior high schools owing GH¢25.2 million.

Security agencies, including the Ghana Police Service, the Ghana National Fire Service and the Ghana Prisons Service, also owe the company GH¢7.4 million.

The Police Service owes GH¢3.4 million, the Ghana Prisons Service owes GH¢3.6 million, while the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) owes GH¢400,000. Domestic, commercial and industrial users also owe the company GH¢42.7 million.

The Central Regional Engineer of the GWCL, Mr Thomas Amenyah, disclosed this in a presentation at a stakeholders dialogue organised by the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) in Cape Coast on Wednesday.

He said the situation was a challenge to efficient and effective operation of the company.

Mr Amenyah added that the company needed money to carry out its operations, which were becoming more costly due to high cost of chemical and the worsening state of raw water sources due to illegal mining activities.

The regional engineer said although the efforts at clamping down on the activities of illegal miners had worked to improve the state of the raw water sources, “we are doing our part and we want other stakeholders to do their part to get potable water and efficient services for all”.

ECG

The Regional Engineer of Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), for his part, noted that illegal connections were affecting the company’s revenues and reliable power supply.

“Sometimes our transformers break down because of these things,” he stated.

He called for the observance of utility corridors to ensure easy installation and work for utility providers.

“You look at a high tension line and put a building under it. This is not good for our operations. We all need to help the utility providers to service customers better,” he said, and called for more dialogue among stakeholders for effective collaboration.

The Central Regional Manager of the PURC, Ms Kesewa Apenteng-Addo, said the commission was committed to ensure that utility providers and consumers worked to support one another in leveraging efforts for efficient service delivery for satisfaction.

She said while customers had the right to efficient service, they had the obligation to pay their bills and desist from acts that adversely affected operations of the service providers.