INTERVIEW WITH GHANAIAN TIMES

Rand Water is a publicly-owned South African utility company. It is a shareholder of Aqua Vitens Rand Ltd. (AVRL), alongside Vitens BV, also a publicly-owned utility in Holland. AVRL is in the fourth of a five-year management contract with Ghana Water Company Ltd. (GWCL), as the Operator, with GWCL as the Owner of the assets with responsibility for investments. Recently, we granted a written interview to Mr. Enimil Ashon, editor of the Ghanaian Times, during a visit to our offices in Johannesburg.

Below is the full text of the Questions and Answers:

Question: After three years as Operator of Ghana's urban water supply systems, have you succeeded in proving critics of the Management Contract wrong?

Answer: Our focus is not on proving critics wrong. However, expectations of the short-term impact of the management contract and the participation of AVRL in the water sector were not realistic. Besides, we are not keen on the debate about privatization. We are in Ghana to implement government policy.

Question: People still complain of water shortages and poor service three years after the Operator came on board. What do you say to them?

Answer: The management contract was not meant to resolve all the water supply problems within five years. It was meant to address some of the fundamental concerns contributing to poor service, particularly that of insufficient investment. Our role, then, is that of providing technical support and helping to restore the financial viability of GWCL so that GWCL can attract resources to invest in infrastructure.

Question: What have been your major successes?

Answer: We have been successful at introducing modern and efficient management systems, a new corporate culture and transparent operations, together with operational efficiency in the use of chemicals and electricity.

We have also improved billings and revenue collection, and provided remarkable man days of training for all categories of staff. Additionally, we have brought a higher level of attention to the water sector on the part of political decisionmakers, which is critical for addressing the service through a long-term, sustainable approach.

Question: What have been your greatest challenges? Whose fault have they been?

Answer: Our biggest challenge has been the big backlog in maintenance and investment in the system. Insufficient town planning in the past is the bane. Misunderstanding in the relationship between AVRL and GWCL has also been a key challenge which both sides have been working hard to overcome. But naturally, it presents a public relations problem as the public is never quite certain who is responsible for doing what.

Question: What legacies would you have left behind at the end of the contract?

Answer: We'll leave behind a financially sustainable operator managed on the basis of transparent and efficient processes and procedures, and a well-trained human resource base able and ready to carry on further.

Question: How would you describe the seconded staff of Ghana Water Company Limited? Would you recommend their taking over from you?

Answer: We believe when our contract expires in mid-2011, we will leave behind a highly enthusiastic staff who are open and willing to learn continuously, who will strive for higher performance and are deserving and capable of managing the operations. Indeed, we have already begun a process of, for want of a better expression, “indigenizing” the top management of AVRL. Currently, there are five expatriates, two of whom will leave by the second quarter of 2010. They will be replaced by Ghanaian staff. In addition, a Ghanaian Chief Operating Officer is soon to be appointed at AVRL.

Question: In what ways have you begun the process of disengaging from the Ghanaian system?

Answer: We are not disengaging from the Ghanaian system. We are establishing a system that takes the best from South Africa, Holland and, even more importantly, Ghana.

Question: What recommendations would you prescribe for the way forward – A lease? An extension of the Management Contract?

Answer: We believe that AVRL/GWCL are not ready to hand over under a lease contract. The tariff regime is not sufficient to attract a lease. We believe that we should be here longer; but our role is to support whatever the government, through GWCL, chooses. We wish to make it clear, however, that we will not be interested in participating in a lease ourselves because we see our participation in Ghana's water sector as a corporate social responsibility project of our shareholders. We are not in Ghana motivated by profit. But we will be ready to help attract bids or candidates for GWCL, if that is the path that they wish to pursue.

Last changed: Feb 08 2010 at 7:07 AM