The Parliamentary Committee on the Environment and Natural Resources has commended NWSC for it’s commitment towards provision of clean safe water and sewerage services to the people of Uganda.
The salutations were made by its members during a visit to the newly completed Katosi water Works.
The legislators noted that the project was completed on time and within cost as per financing obligations that Parliament set during the loan approval process in 2011 and 2019 respectively.
“We’re happy to witness value for money upon completion of the Katosi water project. This is a success story and great stride towards the achievement of SDG6 and transformational agenda of Uganda.” Committee chairman Hon. Dr. Emmanuel Otiam Otala said
He further commended the utility for the ongoing innovations i.e the proposed Captive Insurance and Construction companies among others, which he says will not only promote local content, but also make monetory savings for NWSC.
NWSC Board chairman Eng. Dr. Prof Badru. M. Kiggundu called on the committee to support NWSC address the patent challenge of limited financing which has affected service coverage acceleration to all corners of the country.
Dr. Eng Silver Mugisha the NWSC MD while making a presentation to the committee shared NWSC performance highlights, key strategic interventions undertaken, implementation status of Capital Development Projects, key challenges faced by NWSC, overview of the corporate plan 2021-2024 and the game changing strategic interventions.
Using 1990 as the base year Dr. Mugisha reported that NWSC has achieved the following;
•From 5 towns of operation to 258 towns
•Used to serve less than 500,000 people to more than 15million people
•Service coverage was less than 18%. It is now 85%
•Had a network length of 300kms. It now has more than 20,000kms of pipe.
•NWSC had less than 20,000 connections. It now has more than 700,000 connections
•Revenue was less than 4m$. This has now grown to over 130m$ per annum among others.
Eng Mugisha advocated for more funding to the sector as a catalyst for service delivery acceleration.
Kampala water General Manager Mahmood Lutaaya presented over 28 inhouse innovations at NWSC
Among these, NWSC innovated it’s own billing system, subsequently making big savings in license fees
NWSC launches 10million Tree planting Initiative
In a bid to protect the environment, NWSC has partnered with the Ministry of Water and Environment, NFA and other partners to plant over 1million trees in all NWSC areas of operation.
The initiative is geared towards mitigation of climate change and conservation of the environment.
NWSC GREEN TREE-VOLUTION campaign aims to contribute towards preserving the environment and catchment areas by ensuring sustainable water supply to our esteemed customers, contributing towards improvement of water quality at water sources hence reducing water treatment costs and addressing the risk of the deteriorating and depleting raw water sources.
Compiled by: John Fisher Sekabira