Water theft worries supplier

By NATHAN WOTI
ILLEGAL water connections in urban centres like Port Moresby are a major challenge for Water PNG Limited, says an official.
Water PNG Ltd officer-in-charge Bernard Thomas told The National that large amounts of bulk water were used through illegal connections, resulting in water shortages for areas that had metering, as well as revenue loss for the company.
“Illegal connections of water supply or water theft is becoming a big problem for us,” he said.
“The main pipes for suburbs like Gerehu are somehow intercepted along the way by people making illegal connections and diverting water. This results in shortage of water for households in that part of the city that have taps and meters.
“The only solution is to distribute and give water to every household and settlement in the city to stop people from making illegal connections,” Thomas said.
He added that water supply metering through taps was cheaper compared to water bottles sold in shops or at street vendor markets.
“The water supply you get through tap is charge on at a rate of 70 toea per litre, and if you do the calculation you’ll end up paying only K60 or K70 in a month. Comparing this to the vendor prices (K5 per 10 litre) and water bottles (K2 per 600 millilitres) in shops, you are spending almost K150 to K200 in a month.
“So I would encourage the general public to help us help them by connecting water supply to your homes,” Thomas said.
He said people do not have to wait for Water PNG to visit them and ask whether or not they need a water supply meter and tap for their homes, but rather make it their business to visit Water PNG.