Blantyre Water Board raises rates by over 60%

Blantyre Water Board (BWB) has announced that water tariffs will go up from this month end citing the rise in the cost of delivering the basic commodity.

In an interview with The Daily Times, BWB spokesperson Innocent Mbvundula said domestic water tariffs have adjusted from K720 to K1, 130 per 5,000 litres while communal water points will now be selling 10 litres water at K 1.23 from K 0.82 and institutions will now be paying K3, 760 per 10, 000 litres from K2, 350.

“For the Board to continue offering its services in a more efficient manner, we had to ask the government for a tariff increase because the operational costs have gone up significantly since the water tariffs were raised last year,” said Mbvundula.

He also complained about the increase in electricity tariffs.

“For the month of March 2013, electricity bill alone was K180 million compared to K65 million in the same period last year, 2012. This entails that the cost of electricity as one of main inputs, now is thrice that of same period last year,” explained Mbvundula.