Mbabane – Nhlambeni Member of Parliament (MP) Manzi Zwane has come down hard in parliament on the Eswatini Water Services Corporation (EWSC) for allegedly stamping out competition with community water schemes.
This was during the Ministry of Economic Planning and Development appearance before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) sitting at Parliament.
Zwane said EWSC was at fault for insisting on cutting out residents from its grid, advising that they should find a way for the corporation and the community water schemes to coexist. He raised that some may not afford EWSC’s minimum charges.
It began when the Millennium Development Projects department was presenting its report on the International Convention Centre and Five-Star Hotel (ICC/FISH) to the PAC.
It emerged from the sitting that the ICC/FISH is not yet water connected, with the EWSC allegedly missing crucial deadlines to build and connect infrastructure to the main grid.
An argument over the land allegedly stalled the process, as the ICC/FISH was said to have been built on Eswatini Nation Land, where there is already a rural water scheme servicing the community, sparking division within the Ezulwini community over whether to discontinue their water scheme and fully join EWSC.
The EWSC clarified that when they come to connect an area, it must choose to either use their services or continue with the existing community water scheme.
The connection was scheduled for completion by September 2024.
He described the current EWSC policy as having bullying tendencies and overlooking the communities’ investments into the schemes.
Zwane questioned why EWSC could not set up its infrastructure, allowing more clients with the wish to utilise its services without abandoning existing community water schemes.
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