Water company pleads with customers to pay Sh60m of defaulted bills

Meru Water and Sewerage Services (MEWASS) is pleading with customers to pay up to Ksh.60 million of defaulted water bills dating from March.

Speaking to the People Daily on Tuesday, Meru County Urban Water Corporation CEO Joseph Mberia said the company has suffered a huge loss since March when Covid -19 pandemic struck the country.

Mr.Mberia who pleaded to the defaulters to pay bills said it is overdue as they had taken a charity move not to disconnect the water supply to any household.

“As an organization that was ranked best in Kenya by the Water Service Regulatory Board (WASREB) last year, we decided not to disconnect the water supply to our customers since March. We pardoned as many people are undergoing hard times, but now it is getting tough for us. We have lost millions of shillings and we are appealing to our people to pay or risk disconnection,” added Mberia.

He further called on residents to liaise with the company to pay in installments for the organization run smoothly.

He at the same time called the Ministry of Water to intervene and give grants to water utilities across the country to enable them manage smooth operations.

“We did not wave bills and since many people are not clearing their outstanding bills, we are caught at the middle that is why we are calling on both the national and county government to set emergency funds aside to help the water utilities continue delivering without disconnecting the services,” he further added.

The CEO also claimed that the dare situation has forced the MEWASS to write to other stakeholders and well-wishers for grants.

“ Fighting the Covid -19 Virus needs a lot of water and high standards of cleanness and this has made us to increase water supply to county through the launch of Decentralized Treatment Facility (DTF),”added the CEO.

Mberia also warned the road contractors who are destroying water pipes saying the company is preparing to move to court to challenge the menace.