LWB hikes water tariffs by 50 percent

Lilongwe Water Board (LWB) has adjusted upwards its tariff structure by an average of 50 percent from K194 to K291 per cubic metre, The Nation has established.

According to a document in our possession, the tariff increment came into effect on August 1 2014.

Executive director of Consumers Association of Malawi (Cama), John Kapito, has since questioned the board’s move.

“We have been discussing this and I hope they will incorporate our suggestions because we believe the rates proposed are too high, especially on the domestic side of it,” said Kapito.

But general manager of LWB, Alfonso Chikuni, while confirming the development has, however, justified the move, saying the board has taken time to review its rates despite the surging production driven by the rise in power and chemical prices.

“LWB generally can cover operating costs through revenues generated, but there is limited scope to finance capital investment in production and expansion of operations.

“Therefore, capital investment mostly comes from development partners and with the decrease in donor interventions, the board needs to be self-sustaining,” said Chikuni.

He was earlier quoted as saying LWB distributes 61 thousand cubic metres against the 75 thousand cubic metres needed per day.

“Due to other factors we are not able to meet the demand. For instance, 35 percent of the total production is non-revenue water and at the moment we have a 14-thousand cubic meters deficiency which we hope will be reduced by our efforts in cutting down non-revenue water,” Chikuni said.