NWSC asks police to account for fire brigade water
Fire fighters put out a fire in Namuwongo, Kampala recently. The water body says police must account for water it draws from its hydrants. Photo by Stephen Wandera
What you need to know:
National water says some officers of the police fire fighting department could be selling water illegally.
KAMPALA-National Water and Sewerage Corporation has tasked Uganda Police Force to account for water which fire fighting trucks fetch from its hydrants.
Speaking at the launch of the NWSC Water Loss Prevention Unit headed by police last week, Mr Silver Mugisha, the water body managing director, observed that whereas fire fighting trucks keep fetching treated water from hydrants, there is no accountability to show where it is used.
“Fire fighting trucks need to be looked at critically. Whereas we see them fetching water all the time, we do not see the fires all the time, which means some officers are selling water illegally,” he said.
While commissioning the Unit, Mr Mugisha said the new unit is not strange in the country because other government agencies like Uganda Revenue Authority and Kampala Capital City Authority have similar agencies to enforce revenue collection.
“Our core business is to generate clean and safe water to supply to customers and we have no business in arresting our customers. But when we are losing monthly revenue of Shs1b, we are also forced to wonder what type of customer we are dealing with,” he said.
The creation of the police unit is the latest raft of measures the water body is undertaking to curb illegal consumption of water by mainly powerful city businessmen and top government agencies that illegally connect water to their premises and properties.
However, police spokesman, Fred Enanga said the fire hydrants are metered and whenever water is drawn, police pay for the water used.
“It is also true that sometimes we use those hydrants when there is a breakdown in the water system in the barracks to facilitate our officers.
But it isn’t a regular occurrence. In such cases, the water bills go to the police and we pay for them,” Mr Enanga told Daily Monitor yesterday.
Mr Chris Ebal, the NWSC chairperson, said his board had approved the new unit and it has subjected it to a six-month performance contract to see whether it will have value for money.
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