Escom drains Blantyre Water Board resources, pays K420mil monthly power bills
Water utility, Blantyre Water Board has bitterly complained that it pays half of its annual revenue to Escom power.
Blantyre Water Board acting general manager Henry Bakuwa told the Natural Resources and Climate Change committee of parliament in Lilongwe that the board collects K800 million in revenue every month so customers payment of water bills out of which the board pays K420 million for electricity.
“The high is too high for us to provide excellent service to our customers. We cannot be giving Escom half of what we collect every month, this hampers our service delivery to residents,” he said.
He said Escom provides electricity to Blantyre Water Board from Nkula A which is used to pump water to residents homes.
Chairman of the committee Welani Chilenga described the development as development.
He said the government needs to move in swiftly to correct the situation.
Meanwhile, BWB public relations officer Priscilla Mateyu said vandals have hit the company hard.
Mateyu said people are vandalising water pipes and metres affecting the company about K40 million a month.
She appealed to people to desist from vandalism.
BWB should not cherry pick which statistic they announce to the public. Like how much they spend on ESCOM power, to pump the water, etc. We also want to know what percentage of BWB’s income goes to wages and salaries, bonuses, perks like vehicles for managers. Ms. Mateyu: Please get us these numbers, and let us judge if BWB is spending the public money wisely. It’s ironic BWB should be complaining about ESCOM: these two utilities are arguably, the worst performers when it comes to being accountable for the public purse, delivery of services, and looking for easy excuses to… Read more »
“The high is too high for us to provide excellent service….”. Ndiye kuti chani?
then
“Chairman of the committee Welani Chilenga described the development as development”. Asah amangwetu! Usawi chichi?
Does ESCOM pay for its water usage? BWB is pumping water from low area upwards which is very costly, why not pump frm Mulanje? construct dams in soche hills? Or even Chiradzulo mountain? We are all suffering frm a defficiency syndrome which only looks for donor aid for construction
O…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..O If we look at small equations, BWB has no moral-corporate right to complain . . . . . . First BWB needs to understand that ESCOM and BWB are separate and independent entities and the electricity bill is an operation cost (on the part of BWB) like any other. Its the same as ESCOM paying water bills; only that WATER as a commodity, is relatively cheaper – the diamond-water paradox. . . . Second, BWB needs to understand that the K420m revenue which ESCOM collects ultimately goes to govt. And if BWB is to keep it, it still shall… Read more »
Blantyre Water Board, please do not blame ESCOM for your failures unless you prove that ESCOM is irregularly charging the Board. If ESCOM is billing you correctly as it supposedly does with all consumers, then all consumers should also claim that ESCOM is draining them. Blantyre Water Board needs to improve on its efficiencies first. That said and done, ESCOM you are another grossly inefficient government institution. You should not automatically raise the tariff based purely on a technical formula irrespective of your meeting set targets or not. ESCOM is just another thieving parastatal. In these difficult times you need… Read more »