2016-08-22Staff Report 2 Omuthiya The main water pipeline that burst last week left the northern central town of Omuthiya without water for nearly two days, which the hospitality industry described to have had an immense effect on its business integrity in terms of customer service. But the national water utility company NamWater maintains that it was just normal routine maintenance. NamWater public relations manager Johannes Shigwedha said the issue was resolved. “We were shamed during that period because we were ill informed – even if it was about routine maintenance. It’s really bad for business because it portrayed a bad image of us. Not every customer understood and knew what really happened,” said one business owner, who refused to be named. The businessman also said NamWater should in future alert people about its planned maintenance work within reasonable time. The town was left with erratic water supply during that period and the only fortunate ones were those situated in the valley where the water flows downwards, while those on upper ground had no water at all as the pump pressure was too low to pump water uphill. 2016-08-22Staff Report 2
