Water Tariffs Hiked By 400%

The Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Zinwa) has increased its water tariffs by over 400% citing the recent sharp increases in the cost of water treatment chemicals, spares, electricity, fuel among other costs.

The development will see residents in high-density areas paying $3,42 up from 80 cents for up to five cubic metres of water. In a statement, ZINWA said:

The re-aligned tariff structure was approved in terms of section 30 of the Zinwa Act (Chapter 20:25) and is meant to ensure the viability of the authority by striking a balance between affordability and availability of resources.

Recent sharp increases in the costs of spares, water treatment chemicals, electricity, fuel and other critical inputs coupled with the fact that water tariffs were last set in 2012 have necessitated this realignment.

The development comes when local authorities have indicated that they will be increasing tariffs of services rendered due to the soaring inflation, scarcity of foreign currency and other issues.

Inflation has been going up in the country since the introduction of currency reforms as the local currency continues to lose value against the United States dollar.

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