Report states that the restraining t of water supply happened as a result of the enormous debts government Ministries situated within the said building to be paid the company that charged with the responsibility to supply water within the Freetown Municipality.
According to Guma Valley Water Company about twenty three Ministries, Departments and Agencies owed the company 19 Billion Leones. Government Offices within Youyi Building owes Guma the sum of Eight Hundred Million Leones. Owing to that Guma has cut-off the essential necessity at the Youyi Building.
As a result this saddened situation, the Minister of Information and Communications Mohamed Bangura called on all ministries and agencies to uphold their responsibility, adding that Guma has been restraining their supply to public consumers when they actually owed them, he noted that there is no sacred cow in business as the same treatment should apply to them when they also flawed the company.
“Every citizen should be treated equally whether you are government officially or not, because when an ordinary man owe a hundred thousand Leones he will be disconnected and government institutions owing trillions of Leones the same should apply, because we are all the same as the ordinary man is the one that makes government.” Bangura noted.
He applauded Guma Valley Water Company for their stringent action and further encouraged the company to disconnect every government ministries and agencies that owed them and that the disconnection should not be only limited to Youyi Building.
Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development Sadiq Mahmoud Kapuwa stated that they most time fulfilled their obligation to pay their bills, but what has been causing the obstacle in the transaction was not clear, he lamented. He said it was an embarrassing situation when their visitors that wanted to attend to nature were limited as a result of water restriction.
Several civil servants and members of the public, whose views were sought, describe the lack of water supply to the country’s principal government structure that is hosting eight government ministries, currently confronted with several inconveniencies and embarrassment.