NWC photo
It has been revealed that the National Water Commission, NWC, failed to lodge $700m which was collected from customers under the K-Factor Programme over a seven year period.
The programme was instituted to facilitate the financing of capital rehabilitation projects to reduce Non-Revenue Water.
The NWC charges customers a percentage of their bill amount known as the K-Factor.
Auditor General, Pamela Monroe-Ellis in her 2013/2014 annual report tabled this week in the House of Representatives found that only $15.3b or 94 percent of the $16b collected was lodged to the designated K-Factor account.
The money was collected between April 2008 and September 2014.
Mrs. Monroe-Ellis says the remaining six percent was instead retained and used to finance NWC’s operational activities.
The Auditor General says her team was also unable to verify whether the NWC was complying with the requirement to deposit the K-Factor collection within the stipulated 45 days.
She says based on the findings, the late depositing of the K-Factor funds could hinder the timely execution of non-revenue water reduction projects aimed at increasing operational efficiency.
The Auditor General has recommended that the NWC ensure full compliance with the requirement to deposit within the stipulated timeframe, all revenues collected from customers under the K-Factor programme.
In the meantime, the audit also revealed that the NWC transferred $1b from K-Factor funds to finance administrative expenses.
The Auditor General outlined that in January 2013, the Office of Utilities Regulation, OUR, agreed with the NWC that the administrative activities of the K-Factor Unit which managed the programme would be paid by
the company.
However, without OUR approval, the NWC instituted a supervision cost of 8.5%, which amounted to $1.8b.
The money was transferred to NWC bank accounts in August 2013.
The Auditor General concluded that the timely implementation of Non Revenue Water reduction projects may have been impacted.
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