Bulk water price to rise by 12%

CABINET has approved a 12 per cent increase in bulk water tariffs for this financial year.

Minister of Information and Broadcasting Nangolo Mbumba said yesterday that the increase had been necessitated by the high cost of water supply. Addressing a media briefing in Windhoek on Cabinet decisions, he said NamWater had to repay loans it had taken to invest in new water infrastructure.”NamWater must operate on a full cost recovery basis and the 12 per cent increase will allow the company to break even,” he said.The water utility’s customers, mostly local authorities, are charged a tariff according to their location.In regions where water is most expensive – Omaheke, Oshikoto, Ohangwena, Oshana and Omusati – the increase will mean that water will now cost N$5,60 a cubic metre (1 000 litres).During the 2003-04 financial year there was a 2,3 per cent decrease in the sales volume of treated water and a further drop is projected during this year.This, NamWater said, was because most bulk users had employed better water demand management and had reduced water losses through their reticulation systems.In addition, one of its biggest customers, the City of Windhoek, now has increased availability of water from alternative sources such as its boreholes and the Goreangab Reclamation Plant.Mbumba pledged Government’s commitment to financially support the supply of water to rural areas.It could still be another two to three months before consumers feel the trickle-down effect.The increases still have to be gazetted where after local authorities will be given at least a month’s notice before they come into effect.NamWater’s Chief Executive Officer, Vaino Shivute, said yesterday that local authorities in arrears with payments owed the parastatal between N$70 to N$80 million.He said this was a “substantial amount that we need to [be able to] do things to supply water”.Addressing a media briefing in Windhoek on Cabinet decisions, he said NamWater had to repay loans it had taken to invest in new water infrastructure.”NamWater must operate on a full cost recovery basis and the 12 per cent increase will allow the company to break even,” he said.The water utility’s customers, mostly local authorities, are charged a tariff according to their location.In regions where water is most expensive – Omaheke, Oshikoto, Ohangwena, Oshana and Omusati – the increase will mean that water will now cost N$5,60 a cubic metre (1 000 litres).During the 2003-04 financial year there was a 2,3 per cent decrease in the sales volume of treated water and a further drop is projected during this year.This, NamWater said, was because most bulk users had employed better water demand management and had reduced water losses through their reticulation systems.In addition, one of its biggest customers, the City of Windhoek, now has increased availability of water from alternative sources such as its boreholes and the Goreangab Reclamation Plant.Mbumba pledged Government’s commitment to financially support the supply of water to rural areas.It could still be another two to three months before consumers feel the trickle-down effect.The increases still have to be gazetted where after local authorities will be given at least a month’s notice before they come into effect.NamWater’s Chief Executive Officer, Vaino Shivute, said yesterday that local authorities in arrears with payments owed the parastatal between N$70 to N$80 million.He said this was a “substantial amount that we need to [be able to] do things to supply water”.