A DEMOLITION exercise of underground water tanks embarked on by officials of the Ledzokuku-Krowor Municipal Assembly (LEKMA) almost turned bloody last Thursday when a man pulled a gun threatening to shoot the team.
Retired WO1 Edmund Voegborlo is one of a group of operators in the community who have constructed underground wells connected to hydrants belonging to the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) to siphon water for commercial activities.
He arrived at the scene at about 10:30a.m. when the exercise was underway, entered his room and came out with a pistol loaded with 11 rounds of ammunition and went into a frenzy without any provocation.
He was, however, overpowered by some officials of the municipal Security Council detailed to oversee the exercise, and sent to the Teshie Police station where he was detained.
Voegborlo who claimed to be serving as an operative with the National Security confessed to officials that he often sold the siphoned water from the main connection line at night to tanker services which in turn supplied the community at exorbitant rates.
His action could, however, not deter the officials who swiftly demolished his tank as well as others within the community and its environs that had been illegally connected for sale to tanker services.
Owners of the underground wells in an attempt to outwit officials about the illegal activities, have constructed bedroom facilities on top of them. The structures have since been demolished by the assembly.
The Municipal Chief Executive, Mr Mensah Sackey, told the Daily Graphic that the illegal activities of the underground operators, apart from compromising the quality of the water being supplied to the community, was also responsible for the perennial water shortage within Teshie and its environs.
According to him, owners after being granted permit for the construction of the wells often acquired 10inch pipes which they used to illegally tap into the GWCL main lines within the community.
Mr Sackey called for a review of the GWCL Act of 1996 to spell out stiffer punishment for offenders, as according to him, persons arrested and prosecuted in the past paid a maximum fine of GHC180 as stipulated in the law.
The General Manager (customer care) at Aqua Vitens Rand Limited (AVRL), Mr Daniel Moumaalah, express regret at the action of the residents of the community who often applied for permit to construct the wells for domestic use.
The trend, according to him, had seen about 40 per cent of supply not billed appropriately owing to the illegalities.
He noted that 50 per cent of water produced by the company could not be accounted for as a result of illegal connection contributing massively to huge revenue loss.
‘If the above mentioned percentage were to be leaking through burst pipe lines, there would have been massive flooding in Accra’, Mr Moumaalah said.
He appealed to the general public to appreciate AVRL’s monitoring efforts aimed at reducing incidents of perennial water shortages being experienced across the length and breadth of the country.
He also challenged the assembly to consider passing a regulation making illegal water connections punishable so as to deter people from engaging in it.
The Teshie District Police Commander, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Samuel Tibil Punobyin, said Voegborlo had earlier been charged for illegal connection of public utility and was set to make an appearance on Wednesday, April 7, for threatening death and for first degree felony under the criminal code, Act 29 of 1960 after investigations.
No comments:
Post a Comment