By CHATULA KANGALI –

THE National Water Supply and Sanitation Council (NWASCO) has lifted the suspension of the operating licence for Chambeshi Water and Sewerage Company.
In 2013 NWASCO suspended the operating licence for the water utility company in line with the provisions of section 21(1) of the Water Supply and Sanitation Act No. 28 of 1997.
This was after the company failed to comply with the Water Supply and Sanitation Act which mandates the Utility to provide sustainable water supply and sanitation services.
The issues of non-compliance and concern that led to the suspension of the licence included; failure to provide water supply and sanitation services as provided for in the licence conditions, non-adherence to service level guarantees, water quality guidelines and flouting of procurement rules and regulation.
NWASCO Public Relations and Communication Manager Rose Tembo confirmed the lifting of the suspension in a statement yesterday.
Ms Tembo said the lifting of the operating licence was necessitated by the appointment of a new managing director and the withdrawal of the statutory manager who was overseeing the operations of the company for the last two years.
“NWASCO is hopeful that the new management team at Chambeshi Water will improve in service provision in Muchinga and Northern provinces,” she said.
She added that the challenges at Chambeshi Water date back to 2011, when NWASCO imposed a Special Regulatory Supervision (SRS) on the water utility company for a period of one year.
The SRS was imposed in order to help the company address issues of non-compliance and concern but yielded no convincing efforts on the part of management to address them.