The Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) has disconnected 13 illegally connected pipelines at Madina in Accra.
This was during a mass disconnection exercise of illegal pipelines in parts of the region.
The culprit, GWCL explained, is a commercial water vendor who obtained no authorisation prior to the connection.
The Regional Distribution Manager of the Accra East Region, Ing. Paul Akpanya disclosed this during a media briefing as part of the exercise to reduce losses in the system.
He said the connection has had no billing metering system for the past seven years.
“Before we connected the people, we knew the flow and pressure were good, so, we do not have to inform them before disconnecting. We are not disconnecting the main pipelines.
“We are just here for the illegal connection. We want people to get water in their homes and not buy from those with illegal connections at a high cost,” he explained.
The Managing Director of the GWCL, Dr Clifford Abdullah Braimah, who was also part of the team admonished customers to be responsible.
He also urged all and sundry to report persons who engage in such illegalities for prompt action.
“Some of our customers are engaging in illegal connections into their systems, and Ghanaians are watching. If you allow a customer to take more than he is supposed to take, he denies those downstream what they are supposed to get.
“We have to be responsible and to report those who are engaged in it or haven’t even paid their water bills,” he charged.