Utility companies across the country are constantly under pressure to sustain and improve their services. It is understandable, therefore, that firms like water and sanitation companies constantly send out warnings of discontinuation of their services if bills are not settled within a specified time. It is appreciated that these companies cannot be expected to provide the desired quality services if the users are not paying for it.

It is also true, however, that discontinuing a service could do more harm than good. This is particularly so for water which, as should be known, is a key factor in health. As it is said, water is life.

It should be with this in mind that the Eastern Water and Sewerage Company (EWSC) reflects on its decision to disconnect supply to four prisons in the Eastern Province.

The prisons have had no water for over a week for failing to settle K639 million outstanding water bills and now over 1 000 inmates are under increased risk of contracting diseases that could break out.
It is bad enough that the prisons are overcrowded and with very poor sanitation facilities. And now that water supply is cut, it is unimaginable how pathetic the situation is now.

This health concern could actually get worse. The Namuseche Prison in Chipata is now fetching water from a nearby clinic but the service providers are apparently eying the health centre too for disconnection because it too has a huge outstanding bill. God forbid. This should never be allowed to happen. Under no circumstances do you disconnect water or electricity supply to a health institution.

Without water at a clinic, you could as well close it because it too would become a health hazard. And where does this leave the hundreds of patients who need this facility every day? Where do mothers give birth; where do the injured get treated; where do the seriously ill get specialised treatment from?

People’s lives should never be used as bargaining chips. Surely there are other ways in which those in debt could be compelled to settle their bills without having to cut supply and probably hope that the hardships that would inevitably follow would expedite the payment of the dues.

This goes not only for the EWSC, but also all other such service providers across the country.We know that the money they are owed is huge and some of these debts have been outstanding for years, but life is priceless. It is irreplaceable and so it should never be taken for granted.

This challenge also goes to the various government departments, who are the major culprits of defaulting on payment of water bills. They too should be held accountable for the suffering the public goes through when water is disconnected or there is a threat to do so.

In fact, they are the genesis of the problem because, for some reason, they do not handle payment of these essential services as a priority. If they did, why have they been putting the bills in the pending tray for the past three or so years? This too is unacceptable.

They should therefore heed Eastern Province Minister Charles Banda’s directive to liquidate their bills.
For the good of not only the prisoners and those who come into contact with them, but also for all other people, we hope this directive will be taken seriously and acted upon.

Source: Daily Mail