Water tariff hike to be an anti-people decision: GM Quader

Jatiya Party chairman GM Quader on Thursday opposed the government’s move to increase the water tariff of Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (WASA), saying it will be an anti-people decision.

“If the water tariff is increased, the suffering of people will worsen further. So, it won't be justified to raise the prices of water in any way,” he said.

The Jatiya Party chairman also said the Dhaka WASA’S proposal of increasing the water of water by 20 per cent is not acceptable in any way. “Increasing water tariff will be an anti-people decision.”

He came up with the remarks while addressing a meeting of Jatiya Party’s additional secretaries general at party chairman’s Banani office.

GM Quader, also the deputy opposition leader in parliament, said many people have lost their jobs due to the Covid pandemic.

“The number of unemployed, who lost their jobs and businesses, in the country is now several crores. In such a reality, ordinary people are struggling to make ends meet,” he observed.

The Jatiya Party chief also said people are going through a tough time to cope with the growing price hike in essential commodities.

He said common people have an allegation that they are not getting enough water from Dhaka WASA despite paying water bills every month. “Many people also complained that the water of WASA is dirty, stinky and not drinkable.”

GM Quader also said it would never be logical to increase the water tariff on the pretext that Dhaka Wasa is struggling to pay its operating expenses and the loans of development projects with its own income.

Referring to media reports, he said WASA’S development and management costs have increased at an unreasonable rate due to corruption and waste in various sectors.

Earlier on Wednesday, Dhaka Wasa managing director Tasqem A Khan said they want to increase the tariff of water by at least 20 per cent to reduce the government subsidy.

On 24 May last year, the Dhaka WASA increased water tariff by five per cent, which came into effect on 1 July 2021. Dhaka WASA increased the water tariff 14 times in the last 13 years since Awami League has come to power.

The current tariff for each unit of water (1,000 litres) is Tk 15.18 for residential use against the production cost of Tk 25.