The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) has directed the Ghana Water Company Limited to suspend the intended shut down of the Kpong Water works until further notice.

A statement signed by Nana Yaa Akyempim Jantuah, Director Public Relations and External Affairs, said PURC issued the order to the GWCL in respect of a prevailing water crisis in the Accra –Tema Metropolitan Area and the failure to comply with duty of care and protection for consumers of water.

The PURC said in pursuance of its mandate to protect the interest of consumers, the GWCL is being ordered to furnish the Commission with the schedule of works and planned completion date for the repair to the transmission pipelines supplying water from the Weija Plant and expansion for interconnection works at the Kpong Water Plant.

In addition, GWCL shall furnish the Commission with its best estimation of time for normalization of water supply to consumers following the completion of repairs works on the Weija – Accra and Tema – Accra Transmission Pipelines and the commencement of pumping water through the pipelines to be used by consumers.

GWCL must also furnish the Commission with details of contingency measures the company intends to deploy to mitigate the impact of water shortages to Accra that would arise from the planned shutdown of Kpong Water Works as well as plans to mitigate the impact of loss of supply to Accra arising from the faults on the transmission Pipelines from the Weija Plant.

The statement required the GWCL to furnish the Commission with a Communication Plan to inform consumers/customers on repairs at the Weija Transmission Pipelines and for the intended shut down of the Kpong Plant.

“Failure to comply with the above directive makes the GWCL liable to committing an offence under section 38, 41 and 42 of the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission Act (Act 538),” the statement added.

The power conferred on the PURC to issue a REGULATORY ORDER is under Section 12(1) of the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission Act 1997, Act 538.