Beijing held a public hearing on Thursday to solicit opinion on
an unprecedented reform of its water pricing system. Residents and
businesses are bracing themselves for substantial hikes.
The majority of the 30 public delegates attending the hearing
consented to the proposals that the price of water be raised by 30
percent on average. Once endorsed, average price for a ton of water
will climb to 5.14 yuan (62 US cents) from the current 4 yuan (48
US cents).
Debates are
expected to heat up as other municipalities and provinces, nearly
all suffering from water shortages, make moves to follow suit.
Inflation also remains a serious concern.
The delegates, representing consumers, industry and government,
urged pricing authorities to give special consideration to
low-income groups and provide them with subsidies in event of a
hike.
Many of the delegates also pointed out that the Beijing Tap
Water Group and related government organs should make more efforts
to repair dilapidated pipelines and prevent water leakage and
waste.
At Thursday's hearing, which lasted about four and a half hours,
the city's water bureau, Beijing Tap Water and the sewerage group
submitted three proposals asking for hikes in water resource fees,
tap water fees and sewage treatment fees.
According to the proposals, the general water price-combining
all three fees--for residential use would increase to 3.7 yuan (48
US cents) per ton from current 2.9 yuan (35 US cents).
A proposal was also submitted to implement from July 1 this year
the long-discussed progressive water pricing system. It would
require customers whose water use exceeds pre-established levels to
pay high fees for the excess amount.
Liu Suoxiang, deputy general manager of Beijing Tap Water, said
the progressive pricing system has three tiers, based on monthly
household water consumption.
Liu said the plan uses a four-member family as the model, and
the basic water quota is three tons per person every month.
So the basic quota of a household is 12 tons a month at 3.7 yuan
(45 US cents) per ton, Liu said.
Those who exceed the quota would have to put up to five times
more for the extra water.
The highest fee level targets luxurious water use such as for
family swimming pools, and its prohibitive price is expected to
encourage people to save water, Liu said. He also pointed out that
families with four or fewer members make up over 90 percent of the
households in Beijing.
Most delegated at the hearing agreed to the progressive pricing
system, but some suggested that its overall implementation Beijing
should be postponed.
Liu Zhiqi, one of the deputies and also secretary of the China
Water Association, suggested that the local authorities could try
the new system in several communities first. He pointed out that in
many traditional courtyards residences, there is only one water
meter for three or more households.
The water group should expedite the upgrading of water meters to
ensure the progressive pricing system can be implemented smoothly,
said deputy Zhang Ying.
In addition to the price reform for residential use, the general
price for water will soar to 100 yuan (US$12) per ton for
commercial baths and 60 yuan (US$7.30) per ton for car washes and
the purified water industries.
Beijing Development and Reform Bureau Deputy Director Chai
Xiaozhong said imposing prohibitive water prices on bathing and
other water-consuming businesses was aimed to use prices as policy
leverage to curb the development of these industries.
Chai said his bureau would make some changes to the proposals
based on the opinions and suggestions put forward by the deputies,
and then submit the revised version to the municipal government for
approval.
(China Daily June 4, 2004)