Yobe Water Corporation to increase tariff

The Yobe Water Corporation said it will review water bills upward to increase revenue and ease the financial burden on government in providing public urban water services.

The General Manager of the corporation, Engr Ahmed Usman told Daily Trust in Damaturu yesterday that the state government had maintained the premium position of charging lowest water tariffs in the country at N200 per month.

“Since the creation of Yobe State, water bill has remained N200 per month. It is the lowest in the country,” he asserted, stressing that the time had come to raise the bar.

“The upward review of the tariff is significant at this stage to find reliable maintenance solutions,” he said.

The new resolve may meet with difficulty, however, as he said even the N200 currently being billed was not being honoured by water consumers.

“Majority of our customers do not pay,” he said, explaining that both the new bill to be fixed and how effective collection would be achieved were being worked out.

He said the state government had sustained the most hygienic borehole water supply system in the urban areas despite the cost, to maintain healthy population and environment.

“We have 276 functional boreholes in urban areas. In Damaturu alone we have 76 boreholes that consume 48,000 liters of diesel monthly and government has given almost 100 percent subsidy. So, the N200 paid by the customers monthly is inconsequential compared to the maintenance cost,” he added.