PUC RECEIVES SR 298,000,000 OF SUBSIDY TO PUMP TREATED WATER INTO THE GROUND
The latest statistics published by the National Statistical Bureau (NSB) reveals that during 2006, 48% of the treated water which PUC (Public Utilities Corporation), the state owned monopoly utility company, pumps to the homes and businesses disappeared into the ground before it reached the taps of the consumers. Yet from 1st January 2001 to 31st December 2006, PUC has received SR 298,984,000 of subsidies from the government. The Government has allocated another SR 70,000,000 of subsidies for 2007.
According to the statistics, in 2006 PUC treated 12, 857,000 kilolitres of water but only 6,703,000 kilolitres actually reached consumers. In other words, 48% of the treated water just disappears into the ground. Although NSB does not have the statistics for the previous years, this state of affairs has been in existence for more than a decade. The current managing director of PUC – water, Mr Steven Rousseau even made a public statement on television about this problem.
The statistics also show that the situation on Mahe is worst of all. Of the 11,519,000 kilolitres treated only 50% reached the taps of the consumers. On Praslin 68% of the water treated actually reached the consumers, while on La Digue the figure is 75%.
Despite clear evidence to the contrary, Ex President Albert Rene embarked on a grandiose desalination project with a loan of 25 million dollars. This money could have been better spent buying new water pipes to replace the old and dilapidated ones which were installed during colonial days. Somebody somewhere must have made a killing on that money as with the benefit of hindsight, it has become cystal clear that desalination is, and was not, the solution to our water shortage.
Apart from being responsible to providing drinking water, PUC also generates all the electricity consumed in
PUC is the most non-transparent of the parastatals. Despite receiving huge subsidies, there hasn’t been a report either from its management or from the Auditor General on the operations, financial accountability or efficiency of the corporation. No one knows what the annual revenue of the corporation is, at least not from the PUC management direct to the public. Yet according to NSB statistics, between 2001 and 2005 PUC sold SR1, 165,075,000 worth of electricity, and average of SR 194,000,000 a year. Where did all this money go to? Why does PUC need so much money in the form of subsidy if it generates so much revenue?
A survey by the Seychelles Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) some years ago showed that the cost of electricity and water is highest in
This is one more transparency issue which President Michel must tackle at the earliest. It is evident that PUC is a very inefficient producer of electricity and water – probably the most inefficient in the world by some reckoning.