MONROVIA: The Liberia Water and Sewer Corporation (LWSC), is battling a relatively low level of cost recovery and deteriorating cash flows.
Key among the operational and technical challenges that the Corporation faces include “huge accounts receivable arrears and non-revenue water due to technical losses and water theft,” according to the Annual Aggregate Performance Report 2023, released by the Bureau of State Enterprises (BSE).
The BSE disclosed in the report that the Corporation’s huge receivable arrears can be attributed to poor credit management and billing of commercial customers based on estimates.
Therefore, the Bureau of State Enterprises (BSE), has advanced a number of proposals as a short and medium-term strategy to verify LWSC’s receivable arrears and strengthen receivable management, enhance revenue collection and cash flows, and reduce non-revenue water, and losses.
BSE proposes that the Management of the Corporation should establish “the authenticity of all outstanding accounts receivable by categorizing and verifying all accounts in the customer data based.”
“To do this”, the Report added, “Management should put together a team to review the Utility Master (UM) System to:
Categorize all billable commercial and household customers in the UM Database;
Verify and correct account numbers and addresses of all billable commercial and household customers within the UM Database to ensure accurate billing of customers;
Identify all new customers, assign appropriate account numbers and billing information for inclusion in the UM Databased; and Ensure that all bills and payment information of customers are recorded in the UM System.
The report also made it clear that LWSC’s receivable increased over the years with little done by the management to address the collection of the receivable arrears.
Thus, the BSE advises that the Management of the Corporation actively engage with the customers who are not paying their bills and their debt continues to increase.
BSE further recommended that the following strategies should be considered to ensure the collection of overdue accounts:
The Corporation should reach out to customers with overdue receivables to negotiate payments and establish deadlines for their payment.
“Depending on the customer’s indebtedness: workout a manageable payment plan with the customer instead of disconnecting the customer with such payment plans being agreed upon by the customer and the Management of LWSC on a monthly basis until the debits are payoff over the period agreed, or pardon and write off debts for customers who are willing to pay but unable to pay with a commitment by the customer to management to be current with payment of bills moving forward;
Disconnect all customers who refuse to make payment or negotiate their debts and /or make payments on current bills despite several warnings;
And Establish a proactive Call Center Team to engage with customer through phone/SMS/emails on the activities involving revenue and receivable collections, compliant and compliant customers, disconnection and reconnection of the customers.”
The report also recommended that LWSC should ensure that all know customers are billed on time and delivered with focus on reducing the billing circle to two weeks; Generate all customer bills directly from the UM System to provide real-time information for senior managers and decision-making;
Ensure that all bills wrongly generated outside the UM System and posted to the system are corrected before dispatching to customers on an ongoing basis;
Identify all commercial customers receiving bills based on estimate and ensure meters are installed to do away with estimates for commercial customers to discourage customers from tapping as much water as the like and selling it to other clients, among others.
Commenting on reduction of non-revenue water losses, BSE recommended the conduct of a physical verification of customers and repair or replace broken meters of customers; Meter all customers who are connected but not meter and record information into the UM System;
Minimize water theft by verifying disconnected customers are not consuming water illegally; Meter all customers even when they are on the flat rate program, which will serve as a better approach to managing non-revenue water losses;
Frequently conduct field visit and promote customer awareness programs; Investigate commercial customers suspected of meter bypasses and water theft;
Work along with local communities to identify customers suspected of bypassing meter and water theft; Conduct awareness and training programs for meter readers and Data Analysts on the importance of reading , verifying , and analyzing data correctly from the meter;
Get rid of old meters that are hard to read or unreadable, and conduct awareness programs for meter readers and maintenance team members on reporting and solving all technical issues;
Develop a rotational program with meter readers that may constantly change the assignment areas of meter readers, which may prevent fraud in customer billing, and keep the customer Database updated occasionally in the UM System, which will ensure accurate record keeping.
The LWSC was created in 1973 as a public utility responsible for the provision of safe drinking water and sewage services to all parts of Liberia.
LWSC is also responsible for the construction and maintenance of water sewage facilities across Liberia.
As a key player in the country’s water, sanitation, and sewage hygiene (WASH) sector, among the cardinal roles of LWSC is to ensure the prevention of water-borne diseases through access to safe drinking water and quality management of the sewage across Liberia.
Meanwhile, LWSC was among the eleven state enterprises that were approved for revitalization in 1986 as a result of its poor performance. Due to its operational challenges, the Corporation’s supply of water and provision of sewage services limited to urban communities, especially Monrovia and its surroundings.
