Times Of Swaziland: MORE BAD NEWS AS  WATER TARIFFS TO HIKE

MORE BAD NEWS AS  WATER TARIFFS TO HIKE
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BY NTOMBI MHLONGO on 16/04/2018 10:13:00


MBABANE – While adjusting to the electricity price hike, consumers should be
prepared to pay more for water.
Last week, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Energy tabled tariff increase
of water for the financial years 2018/2019 to 2020/2021 at the House of
Assembly. The Water Tariff Increase Regulations 2018 stipulate charges and fees
listed in the tariff schedule which shall be increased by 13.7 per cent, for
each of the financial years 2018/2019 and 2020/21. If the regulations are passed
by Parliament, it will see residential users paying E58.80 as water charges for
0-10 cubic metre in the 2018/2019 financial year. For the 2017/2018 financial
year, consumers were paying E51.70. The schedule reflects that there would be no
increase for the categories of new connections of both water and sewage
installation for all the three stipulated financial years.
However, it will not be the case for tankered water supply which currently costs
E23.10 per m3, as it will increase to E26.30 per m3 for the financial year
2018/2019 and go up to E29.90 per m3, while for the financial year 2020/2021
consumer will be charged E34 per m3. Under the category of reconnections, there
will be no need to worry for consumers as the charges will stay the same at
E32.05 for all the three financial years. Charges and fees under disconnection
for non-payment and illegal connection will also not increase. Also included in
the schedule are borehole charges, where the application for a new permit per
annum (infrastructure available) will increase from E1 471.20 to E1 672.80 for
the financial year 2018/2019, and this is for a borehole with a size from
0-400m3.
For the year 2019/2020, the application for new permits will increase to E1
901.90 while in the financial year 2020/2021, consumers will have to fork out E2
162.50. For the renewal of the permits, where infrastructure is available, the
charges will increase from E980.90 to E1 115.30 for the financial year
2018/2019, while for 2019/2020 consumers will pay E 1 268. Under the category of
miscellaneous charges, the schedule included charges for septic tanks or vacuum
tanker discharge which will increase from E747.10 per load to E860.80 for the
financial year 2018/2019. For the financial year 2019/2020, the charges stand at
E978.80 and will increase to E1 112.83 in the 2020/2021 financial year.
The charges for an unmetered fire connection ranging between 0-100 mm will
increase from E262 per month to E297.90 for the financial year 2018/2019.