Water tariff hike gets backing
Economists, social commentators and health experts have backed government’s decision to raise water tariffs, saying the hike will enable the water boards to operate efficiently.
Last year, the Northern Region Water Board (NRWB) proposed a 55 percent increase while Southern Region Water Board (SRWB) and Central Region Water Board (CRWB) asked for a 50 percent hike each. Lilongwe Water Board (LWB) proposed a maximum hike of 35 percent.
During a meeting with the Budget and Finance Committee of Parliament in Lilongwe last Tuesday, Ministry of Water and Sanitation director of water supply services Emma Mbalame said the implementation of the new figures, which will be known after the tariffs are gazetted, will be done during the first quarter of this financial year.
Reacting to the development, Water and Environmental Sanitation Network (Wesnet) national coordinator Willies Mwandira said the hike is justifiable considering that operation, maintenance and production costs for water supply services in Malawi have increased significantly.
He said at the current level of tariff, the water utility companies (the water boards) run a risk of closing down in due course.
Mwandira said: “Much as the MDAs have debts with the water utilities, even if all the debts are collected and applied to use by the water boards, it will only provide temporary relief.
“The water utility companies need to mobilise adequate domestic revenue if they are to survive. While these water utility companies devise mechanisms of collecting the debts from the MDAs, they must also intensify provision of prepaid meters to the MDAs and other similar entities.”
SRWB is owed K11 billion by government institutions and of the K11 billion, Malawi Defence Force (MDF) is responsible for K8.2 billion while CRWB is owed K4 billion with MDF alone accounting for K3.4 billion and NRWB is owed K2.9 billion.
Apart from the outstanding bills, the five water boards collectively lose K30 billion each year due to non-revenue water estimated at 35 percent.
Under the approved tariff, those under communal selling points or class C will now spend a minimum of K973 and maximum of K2 920.20 for three cubic litres of water, up from a minimum of K628 and a maximum of K1 884.
