Water Tariffs unbearable in Matutura and new NHE extension

Sharlien Tjambari

A number of residents living in Matutura and the New NHE extension are not happy with their water bills at the end of each month because they remain the same whether there was consumption or not. They alleged that somehow someone is not doing his or her job.

The residents are complaining that their water bills remain the same even if they do not consume water, especially those who work at sea and only come back home after three months; they feel some-how the water bill must decrease when there is no one at home or increase when there are people living in the house.
The Spokesperson for the Swakopmund Municipality Aili Gebhardt said if there is no consumption, there will be no water consumption levied on any consumers account, even if the properties are not occupied, consumers will still be levied the monthly basic charges on their respective service accounts.
Gebhardt advises consumers with abnormal consumption are encouraged to report such to our offices for further investigations.
The residents however, feel that the officials assigned for recording water meters are not going out in the field to collect this meters and only estimate the water consumption per house-hold from their offices.
namib times asked Gebhardt how often they record water meters, and this is what she had to say: “The reading is done on a daily basis. Swakopmund is divided into different routes and the readings are executed on scheduled dates of the respective routes. Each Meter Reader has been allocated routes.
Council is now making used of electronic hand-held devices to record the water meter, which is also effective.
She further said there are currently seven Meter Readers for the whole of Swakopmund.
Commenting on why rates and taxes differ as per respective suburbs Aili mentioned that the same tariffs are being applied for determining the rates and taxes payable regardless of the suburb, however the value of the properties in respective suburbs do differ, therefore the rates and taxes payable by consumers will differ.