Preliminary investigations by the Aqua Vitens Rand Limited (AVRL) management agents of the Ghana Water Company indicate that there are over one thousand illegal water connections in the Bortianor area alone. This has translated into 15,000 people enjoying such services free. The Director of Customer care of the AVRL, Cor Lievers, said this at the commissioning of a call centre for the company in Accra on Tuesday. The centre will receive complaints and reports on illegal connections among others on a call free No.0800-40-000 to be acted upon. Mr. Lievers appealed to the public to use the centre to report such misbehaviours to the company for prompt action to be taken to improve the water supply system. He conceded that some of their staff members have shirked their responsibility by not reading meters, not distributing bills, failing to attend to leakages and illegally connecting customers to the system. “This connivance of the public and staff has resulted in poor services to the general public, high losses of revenue and insufficient supply of available potable water,” he complained. The chairman of the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission, Prof. Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, commended the management of AVRL for taking up that responsibility in their customer care programme although it was not part of their original mandate. He said the centre will greatly facilitate communication between consumers and the producers. Prof. Frimpong Boateng stated that besides lodging complaints with the centre, customers should also report the misbehaviour by other people within their communities. The Managing Director of the AVRL, Andrew Borber, explained that the company has moved from concentrating on its engineering focus to customer care. The Managing Director of Ghana Water Company, Kweku Botwe, entreated those operating the centre to respond promptly to all inquiries from the public. Source: Times