Gwangju Waterworks Headquarters Faces Serious 'Technical Expert' Shortage

24 Vacancies for Practical Managers Below Grade 7
Damage Passed Directly to Citizens
Park Mijeong, Gwangju City Council Member, "Urgent Need for Organizational Restructuring"

Park Mi-jung, Gwangju City Council member.

It has been pointed out that administrative organizations closely related to the safety and daily lives of Gwangju citizens need to be reorganized with a focus on technology and field expertise.

Park Mijeong, a member of the Gwangju City Council (Democratic Party, Dong-gu 2), stated during the administrative audit of the Gwangju Waterworks Headquarters on the 8th, “Last year's major accident at Deoknam Water Purification Plant occurred due to the aging of water supply facilities combined with human error,” and added, “It is urgent to strengthen technical personnel in the Waterworks Headquarters to match the water processing operations.”

Regarding the personnel status of the Waterworks Headquarters, the authorized staff is 297, but the current number is 285, leaving 12 vacancies. Among these, there are as many as 24 vacancies for practical supervisors at grade 7 or below. In particular, there is a shortage of specialized technical personnel.

The Gwangju Waterworks Headquarters supplies tap water to 655,102 households in the jurisdiction. To do this, it manages 4,117 km of water pipes, 19 reservoirs, 40 pumping stations, 136,630 water supply points, 2 water purification plants, and water sources.

However, due to personnel gaps, low-ranking administrative grade 9 employees are handling groundwater management, water supply construction, outdoor meter reading system maintenance, and management tasks, resulting in mismatches in job series.

Councilor Park emphasized, “If specialized personnel are not assigned and there is a gap in skilled technical staff, the damage will ultimately fall directly on the citizens,” and added, “It is necessary to reorganize the organization centered on specialized personnel who can activate long-term service and compensate for technological discontinuity.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.