The Opuwo Town Council has implemented a pre-paid water meter system to improve revenue collection and take control of the amount of water consumed by its clients.
According to Opuwo’s interim Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Karui Rikambura in an interview, households owe the town council between N.dollars 40 million and N.dollars 50 million in water bills.
This, he said is as a result of Government’s directive to all local authorities and municipalities to have water reconnected during the COVID-19 outbreak, noting that the move had a significant impact on municipal revenue collection, increasing what they owe to their suppliers.
“As a council, we visited other councils, including Okakarara and Omaruru, to see how they dealt with debt collection and how pre-paid meters could help, and we are now in the course of installing these meters,” he said.
Rikambura said around 500 pre-paid water meters have been put in the Otuzemba, Onduunye and Schneider areas thus far.
Rikambura also indicated that the council debts have been idle since the installation of the pre-paid water meters, a method he described as the “most easy” in revenue recovery and collection.
“From here henceforth, the residents will now be able to purchase water on their own, and from that amount, a certain percentage will go to the council for debt settlement,” he pointed out.
He further revealed that currently, the council owes NamWater less than what its clients owe it (council), adding that despite the debts of residents, Council was able to pay the NamWater debts, with an amount of between N.dollars 20 million and N.dollars 25 million still outstanding.
He went on to say that the council has identified three boreholes to operate its own water system in the near future and split from NamWater.
Also speaking to Nampa was the chairperson of the management committee, Lucius Kaare Mupya, who stated that the pre-paid method has benefited the council’s financial flow and that the council predicts clean audit reports in two years if every household obtains its own water meter.
“I must add that this system has been a relief on the council revenues; during COVID-19, people were relaxed and silent on payments, but now we can see that there is a change,” concluded Mupya.
Source: The Namibian Press Agency