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No evidence 35,000 water meters ever installed
…entity’s water losses at alarming 70 percent- GWI forensic audit
A critical forensic report on the Guyana Water Inc. (GWI) has called on that state-owned entity to pull out all stops to bring down its non-revenue water (NRW) losses from an alarming 70 percent to 45 percent within five years.
A key report on GWI has found an alarming situation where non-revenue waters being produced is 70 percent.
The report, prepared by HLB R. Seebarran & Co, was released earlier this week by the Ministry of Finance. It is one of several forensic audits ordered by the coalition government last year into the operations of state entities.
According to the report, losses from non-revenue water have been an alarming 70 percent of actual production.
Since 2005, the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has been flagging the issue, noting that much effort must be put in place to arrest the slide.
According to the report, that 70 percent loss is to be blamed on a number of reasons, including leakages in water mains and home connections; illegal connections and non-billing of these; over 50% of customers still not metered resulting in fixed billings; mains connected to the water system not identified and therefore water not accounted for and main valves not recording water passing through them correctly.
Over the last four years, the report said, GWI has been reporting significant improvements to existing transmission and distribution mains.
Some 35,200 meters have been installed over the last four years yet there has been no significant change to the metered customers in the billing system.
“We were unable to verify evidence that indeed 35,000 new meters have been installed,” the audit report said.
Regarding the water losses, a report for 2014 issued last year April that GWI’s Capital Investment Programme focused on the state of NRW.
In reviewing records of January 20, 2015, another year later, it was found that GWI did not have much information to determine a way forward.
“It was noted that the monitoring unmetered customers revealed that their consumption averages 28 cubic metres per month. Based on the numbers for 2014, so far, it appears that NRW may be down to 65 per cent.
“Computation used to arrive at the baseline followed the methodology used by the Consultant in Linden. A plan has to be developed to address NRW to bring it down to 55% by 2016 and by increments of five per cent each year.”
The auditor said that it was clear that the previous Board of Director and management were still struggling to determine a way forward to address NRW although four years earlier it was decided how it would be addressed.
The auditor said that GWI has retained a consultant who is carrying out studies on how to address NRW, particularly in reducing wastages through the mains and locating mains that are connected to the system but have not been previously identified.
“With GWI’s in-house engineers and the NRW Department in place, we believe a plan must now be implemented and acted on to reduce NRW to achieve the desired reductions over the next five years.”
The auditor recommended that the new Board, headed by accountant Nigel Hinds, take steps to reduce NRW and to ensure that over the next five years to 2020, it is reduced from 70% or thereabout to 45%.
“This would require a comprehensive plan which should be reviewed monthly; any positive change must be supported by verifiable evidence so that the BOD can confirm the reduction.”
The auditor stressed that areas with high losses must be given priority to fix problems such as line losses and the misuse of water by those not metered.
GWI was urged to also ensure that the customers are metered at least to 80% of a sanitised data base of customers in the next few years and “replace aged pipes, some of which may be very old and leaking”.
The report noted that GWI must work to minimize leakages which are an important way to identify and account for non-revenue water.
GWI must also move to identify main lines which have not been previously identified.
GWI’s board, up to last year, was chaired by executive, Ramesh Dookoo, with the Minister of Housing and Water being Irfaan Ali.
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