City Of Harare To Charge Some Ratepayers in Forex

Residents in Harare will have to part with 900% more than what they are currently paying the city fathers for Harare water Open Council Harare reports. Entities dealing with forex will also be charged in forex by the council. The city fathers have lamented the cost of water production hence the decision to increase their rates. In a statement that circulated yesterday the council said:

Harare is proposing to increase water charges from RTGs 0.80c per cubic meter to around RTGs 7.00 to allow adequate funding of the water sector. The cost of water treatment chemicals has increased by a factor of more than 10 since all chemicals are either 100 percent imports or have major forex components. The cost of electricity which is the second cost driver in water treatment and conveyance has also gone up. It has, therefore, become necessary to review the cost of water.

According to the same publications the council is also testing some chemicals with the objective of improving efficiencies and effectiveness of the water treatment processes as well as a cost reduction measure.