Paying Water Bills Without Recieving Service

Cisse Hamma, is a 60-year-old man who lives at Houphouet Boigny, a community in the Koumassi Municipality of Abidjan, Cote D’Ivoire, the third largest settlement of the country who has been trying for months to get the local water company to stop sending him bills.

The old man who is a member of the Koumassi Municipal Council, located about five minutes’ drive from the airport and the business centre of Cote D’Ivoire popularly referred to as Plateau, does not understand why he receives monthly bills from SODECI, the company with monopoly over supply of water in the urban parts of the country “even though my tape is always dry.”

Like most residents in the Houphouet Boigny community which was named after the first president of Cote D’Ivoire, who have subscribed to water supply at a fee, Mr Hamma’s tap has been dry over the past six months.

Stand pipes with no water flowing through them is a common site in the densely populated Houphouet Boigny community where residents have to depend on neighbouring communities for water.

“I paid money to SODECI, the water company to be connected to potable water supply system and to help me get easy access to water in my home,” said the unhappy man, “but now I can see that the money was a waste.”

Because water has not been flowing through the tap of the 60-year –old man for the past months he is compelled to give his wife and children money which they intend use to buy water from a distant community.

“I have to buy water,” he said “and yet at the end of the month a receive water bills and then I have to go to the office and pay.”

Depending on the reading of the water meter which has been fixed in front of the house of Mr Hamma by SODECI, he pays a monthly tariff of 2000 CFA and 3000 CFA an equivalent of about $3 and $4.

“The SODECI officers come and read the meter all the time and they bring me a bill which they expect me to pay even though they know they have not provided me with water for some time now,” said the angry man who further states that “when you complain their only excuse is that they have a maintenance problem”.

Mr Hamma explains that the Houphouet Boigny community has not experienced regular water supply since it was connected to the main water system.

Before the taps became dry “the water was only flowing at mid night sometimes and it only flows for a few hours.”

As a result of this, Mr Hamman said residents had no option than to keep watch because there is no schedule or information from SODECI on when water should be expected.

“So we leave our taps on and also keep wake to get a few buckets of water.”

Teilo Serablun, a retiree living in quartier zero cinq another community in the Kuomassi Municipality complained about the high water bills even though there is no regular supply of water.

The man who is also the leader of quartier zero cinq said the residents have no option than pay the high tariffs because “if you do not pay the company will disconnect you from the system and take away the meter.”

He explains that residents want to avoid the instance of being disconnected because of the consequences of paying another huge amount to be reconnected when your meter is taken away.

Kouadio Aboa, first Deputy Mayor of the Kuomassi Municipality confirms that access to potable water is one of the biggest challenges of the over 500,000 residents.

He said most of the communities are not connected to the water system and they have to depend on the other communities which have water even though there is always water shortage.

He explained that the provision of water is in the hands of the government which had entered an agreement with a private water company SODECI to supply the water on its behalf. “The annual 250 million CFA budget support from government is meant for investment project and not for water,” he said.

“It’s a worry to see women getting up early in the morning and walking long hours to get water for the home while children have to miss school hours because of lack of water but we do not have the means,” the man who is only a few months old in office stated.

“We hope more financing would be committed to the provision of water facilities and the supply of water to domestic homes.”   

Gosso Francios Olivier, Director of Production at SODECI, the water company responsible for the supply of water in urban settlements like Kuomassi, said the demand of water is soaring while the facilities which were installed since 1980 but has seen little upgrading does not have the capacity to meet the growing demand.

He said his company has the capacity to produce water for 65 per cent of the entire Abidjan population but it currently able to serve 52 per cent of its subscribers representing about 380,000 households.

Last year, he said the company produces a total of 140 cubic meters of water from its underground water sources.

The water is sourced from 80 meter deep from underground and with the help of pumps and pipes of about 140 millilitres diameter water is propelled into four large opened treatment tanks where chemicals are added as part of the purification process.

After this the water is then filtered and then pumped into similar large tanks which are covered.

Finally, the water goes through testing in a laboratory to ensure it is safe to drink and when the scientist gives it a nod 200 cubic meters of water is pumped every hour though electricity powered structure through a transmission system to the final consumers.

Currently the company produces 19,000 cubic meters of water daily from 90 drilling wells spread across urban centre.

Mr Gosso said an analysis carried out has indicated that there is between four and five billion cubic meters of water underground yet to be taped.

“We have no water resource problem. As a country we have the water bodies and underground water the problems lies with how to mobilise enough funds to put in place the facilities and processes to ensure the people get drinkable water,” said Mr Gosso when he toured journalists around a water treatment plant in Djibi, Abidjan which he said cost 20 billion CFA to put up.