By Chris Mugasha
The National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC) have disclosed its plan of enabling more Ugandans getting access to safe and clean water by 2030.
According to NWSC’s Managing Director Dr. Eng Silver Mugisha, in their strategic plan, they want to extend water to cover over 26million of Uganda’s population by 2030. Currently, NWSC serves about 22million people.
Mugisha disclosed that the plan requires about Shs8.2trillion which he said it will be mobilized through government support, internal financing and sourcing from the development partners.
Mugisha commended government for the support to the agency and commitment towards serving its people explaining that, “many funds extended as loans are converted into grants, helping to keep water tariffs affordable for Ugandans.”
The MD was at the end of this week (Friday) speaking at the NWSC’s annual performance evaluation and stakeholders’ engagement workshop at the corporation’s headquarters in Bugolobi, Kampala.
It was attended by district LCV chairpersons, city and Municipal Mayors and resident district commissioners (RDCs.)
The engagement comes at a time when of recent NWSC entered into memorandum of understanding with some districts/ local governments like Lyantonde and Bushenyi on how to extend water to areas which are water stressed. The arrangement has so far seen some areas which were water stressed getting connected to water ‘easily.’
It’s at this point that Mugisha called for stronger collaboration with local leaders and communities noting that issues of vandalizing the infrastructure (water pipe lines) alongside illegal water connections has affected the agency’s efforts in some areas. He said deliberate destruction of pipelines and installations is increasingly affecting service delivery and raising operational costs.
“Some people bypass official systems to access water, denying the utility much needed revenues which the agency would have used to extend water to more areas/people,” Mugisha explained.
The local leaders unanimously pledged to support the water agency to attain its mission/objectives. End.
