A customer charter which spells out the responsibilities and rights of the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) and its customers has been launched.
The charter also provides a framework for defining the standard of service delivery.
The document was launched by the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing in Accra as part of measures to improve water service delivery to customers.
In a statement read on his behalf, the outgoing sector Minister, Alhaji Collins Dauda, said the introduction of the charter marked another milestone in the GWCL’s quest to improve urban water supply.
According to him, the document was of great importance to the government because it would promote transparency and accountability in the work of the company.
Performance
Alhaji Dauda said the document also provided customers with a yardstick to measure the quality of service provided by the company.
“We are aware of the widespread concerns expressed over aspects of the operations of the GWCL, especially in water distribution and flow, billing and payment of bills, response to faults, leakage repairs and water service connections, which has led to frequent attacks and criticisms by the general public,” he added.
The minister expressed the hope that the introduction of the charter would reduce such misunderstandings between the GWCL and its publics.
Alhaji Dauda urged the management of the company to make copies of the charter available to its customers while using other communication channels to disseminate its content to the public.
Document
The 28-page document contains what the company and customers should do and expect in terms of water services, leakages, new connections, metering and billing services, disconnection, enquiries and complaints.
For instance, the charter says GWCL is supposed to inform customers of all planned works that will interrupt service delivery through an appropriate means three days before the commencement of the works.
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