By Theresa Kef Sesay
Guma Valley Water Company in January 2021 submitted an Application for an upward review of its water tariff to the Electricity and Water Regulatory Commission (EWRC) according to Section 49 (1) of the Commission’s Act of 2011.
The argument for the upward review, which will affect all consumer classes including, residential, residential building sites, commercial, institution, Government, bowser, and ship bunker, among others, is to enable the company to fully cover its operational and maintenance costs, partially fund its capital projects and also subsidize the cost for community water services.
Even though Guma Valley is 100% Government owned, it does not receive subvention from the Consolidated Revenue Fund but relies on revenue generated from water rates to run its day to day operations.
The proposed revised tariff is currently with the Sierra Leone Electricity and Water Regulatory Commission and will be presented at a public hearing to be held at the Atlantic Hall National Stadium on August 5th 2021 for discussion and input from members of the public which will inform the Board of Commissioners on the decision they should take.
Guma tariff review process has been largely stalled since 2006; the company has been implementing a provisional tariff review approved in 2016 that was supposed to last for six (6) months but has now been in place for five years. In 2016, a litre of fuel was Le 3,750.00 and the US dollar was around Le 7,000.00.
According to Guma, its water tariff is one of the lowest in the West Africa sub-region: a 1000 litres of water in Ghana and Senegal cost about Le 18,000, in Liberia it is about Le 13,000, whereas in Freetown is it currently Le 2,500.
The last review on water rate was in 2016 and since then, no adjustments has been made, leaving the company with no alternative but apply for new tariff regime as current tariff cannot cover the operation and maintenance costs.
“Drawing from the lessons of the Company’s history, we are convinced that the only way the company can be financially viable with adequate capacity to deliver quality service to consumers is by charging tariff at levels that can cover our operation and maintenance costs; our current rates are not only far below the regional average but grossly inadequate to meet our operation and maintenance costs,” Guma stated in its Tariff application to the EWRC.
Guma Valley Water Company is planning to utilize the gains from the new tariff if approved to do sub-main extensions to hard-to reach-areas, continue with the leaks repairs to progressively reduce non-revenue water and make more water available for customers, install meters as a water conservation control, improve on customer service and customer engagement, engage communities to be paying for water by phasing out Public Taps and provide connections to households at affordable cost, invest in water bowsers to truck water to community tanks and continue to subsidize the community services operation.
