MD wants to impose the responsibility of WASA’s corruption on consumers: Golam Rahman
Dhaka WASA wants to increase the price of water once again. Golam Rahman, president of the Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB), spoke to Prothom Alo about various issues, including the rationale for the proposal to increase water prices in the current context and the activities of Dhaka WASA.
Dhaka WASA wants to increase the price of water by 20 per cent at least. The entire world, including Bangladesh, is going through a pandemic at the moment. How reasonable is it to increase the price of water now?
Water is essential for life. Providing water for citizens has been considered as the duty of the state from ancient times. The income of the lower class and lower middle class people has reduced due to the pandemic. People are suffering from the price hike. In such a context, the proposal to increase the price of water is neither prudent nor reasonable.
The WASA authorities claim that the government has to pay a subsidy of Tk 10 per 1000 litre of water. The MD of WASA has said that no organisation can be established on its own by begging from the government. Access to drinking water is a right. From that point of view, can't people expect anything from a government organisation? How do you evaluate the statement from the MD of WASA?
The subsidy is given from the money paid by the people. Subsidies can be given for public welfare. The rationale for reducing subsidies is not to increase prices, but to reduce the cost of water purification and supply. For example, the chairman of the Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (RAJUK) is an additional secretary. Similarly, the chief officials of Bangladesh Biman, Petrobangla and Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation are also additional secretaries. The importance and management of these organisations is no less than that of WASA. The monthly salary allowance of an additional secretary is around Tk 100,000, while the salary of Dhaka WASA MD is about Tk 700,000. With the appointment of an additional secretary to the post of MD, it seems possible to save around Tk 5 to 6 million a year. WASA MD has chosen the path of reducing subsidies by placing all the responsibilities of mismanagement, corruption and unnecessary expenses on the consumers. If he and the government focus on reducing the company's unnecessary expenses, it doesn't look like there will be a need for a price increase.
The WASA authorities have termed the increase in water price as the “adjustment of production cost and market price”. What do you say about this?
WASA was created to provide a much needed public service. Business related consideration is not the key in this case. As I have said before, in the eyes of the consumers of WASA, the initiative to increase water price is nothing more than the trial to impose the responsibility of the organisation’s mismanagement, corruption and unnecessary expenses on its consumers.
The authorities say they are implementing a number of projects with loans from abroad. They have to repay a lot more than the loaned money in installments. We have written several reports about the delay a number of WASA projects. From that perspective, why will the people bear the burden of those loans?
The government gets loans and grants from abroad and provides different organisations with funds for the implementation of various projects. The state does not need to repay the money from grants. But it needs to repay the loan money with interest. But it is the duty of the state to repay the loans. Procrastination in the implementation increases the cost of a project at one end and deprives people from the expected services on the other. It is more logical to impose the responsibility of the unnecessary expenses on the top officials. At least, they should be held accountable for this.
The water provided by WASA is not drinkable. People have to boil the water before drinking. For this, they have to use fuel. Therefore, the claim by WASA that they are providing water at a low cost is not true at all in reality. This has been going on for a long. How do you see this as a citizen?
WASA is not being able to provide safe drinking water in many cases which is quite frustrating and unwarranted.
The price of water is increased every year in line with the price hike. However, availability of safe drinking water is still elusive. How justified is it to increase the price of water without increasing its quality?
Ethically it is not acceptable.
WASA is not only a water supplying organisation, but also the sewerage authority of the city. About 85 per cent of the sewage produced in the city is dumped in open places and WASA does not have any role in purifying this. How do you see such a level of contribution from the organisation in charge?
It is an extreme failure in accomplishing duties.
How effective is the role played by different civil societies in face of hike in the price of daily commodities?
It is not the duty of the civil society to control the price of daily commodities. They only can highlight the problems and expectations of the common people. It is the duty of the government and the authorities concerned to find a solution.
*This report appeared in the online edition of Prothom Alo and has been rewritten in English by Ashish Basu