Deputy Water Resources Works and Housing Minister, Sampson Ahi, has ordered all state institutions to quickly settle their water bills in arrears.

Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies, as well as Ministries Department and Agencies, owe the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) millions in unpaid bills, a situation that is crippling the water provider.

However, at a meeting held with heads of public institutions and the Ghana Water Company, the Deputy Minister urged the indebted state institutions to draw from their budgetary allocations to settle debts owed the utility company.

The meeting was aimed at finding an amicable solution to the impasse arising out of the non-payment of water bills by these institutions.

The GWCL in recent times has had to disconnect some of these public Institutions for non-payment of water bills.

The indebted state institutions have also been tasked to collaborate with the GWCL to identify and bill appropriately all the premises of these institutions.

Also, all institutions shall deduct from source, bills pertaining to staff bungalows and commercial entities including buildings under construction on the various premises of these institutions;

The Ministry also stressed that a directive by Government to GWCL not to disconnect institutions that provide essential services, does not imply they are exempted from the payment of water bills.

Over the years, the government has been paying utility bills for MDAs/MMDAs under a system called Government Bulk Payment System.

Under the system, the utility providers only had to compute their Consumptions and forward the bills to Ministry of Finance for payment.

In June 2013, Government took the decision to discontinue the system and let the Institutions pay directly from their budgetary allocations effective January, 2014.