Omuthiya prepaid water meter project abolished
The Omuthiya Town Council has decided to abolish the newly introduced prepaid water metering pilot project.
This comes after the project reportedly did not achieve it’s intended objectives.
According to the town’s technical manager, Petrus Fillipus, the prepaid water meter initiative was introduced as a pilot study aimed at assisting residents who were in arrears.
He says the goal was to explore a flexible payment option through which residents could pay a portion of their outstanding arrears while simultaneously covering the cost of their current water consumption.
“Unfortunately, the initiative did not achieve its intended objectives. Residents participating in the pilot were found to be paying only for their current water consumption, neglecting the agreed portion of arrears. As a result, the initiative failed to effectively reduce the outstanding debt,” he notes.
Fillipus further notes that, given the outcome of the pilot, the use of prepaid water meters for residents with arrears has been deemed ineffective.
He adds that it is not advisable to roll out prepaid meters to residents with arrears.
“Water is a basic and essential need, and providing it on a prepaid basis could result in non-payment, which may compromise public health and sanitation standards.”
The prepaid water metering system was first introduced at Kaniita, an informal settlement at the town, where the council planed to connect prepaid water for each household in 2018.
The town council planned to roll out the prepaid water metering system to the residents about three years ago, however, decided to abolish it due to some residents who failed to honour their outstanding arrears.
Council spokesperson Martha Andreas has told The Namibian that many of the residents are in arrears with their municipal accounts, and the council is presently owed more than N$32 million in unpaid debts.
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