SWM to raise its tariffs

“The tariffs for water will go up this year. The Ministry of Natural Resources and the Suriname Water Company (SWM) are currently busy calculating the new tariffs,” said Natural Resources Minister Regilio Dodson at the opening of the SWM’s newest service center on Wednesday. The minister explained that the prices will be raised minimally. Given the fact that the SWM is busy expanding its services, it was deemed necessary to raise the tariffs. Minister Dodson pointed out that the tariffs will go up with a few cents. The new tariffs will be presented to the Council of Ministers at the end of September or at the start of October. The Natural Resources Ministry will also inform the local business community of the plans to raise the tariffs of water. “The new tariffs must go into effect this year,” said Minister Dodson who explained that a price adjustment is inevitable given the improved service and the delivery of good potable water. Marlon Oosterling, director at SWM, who was also present at the official opening of the new service center that is called the Aqua Building and that is located along the Heliotropestraat at Zorg en Hoop pointed out that the renovation of the building took place in several phases. The SWM reportedly bought the building from the Suriname Post Office (Surpost) but that the building remained empty for some time before being occupied by homeless people. The SWM then decided to renovate the building so that it could better accommodate its employees. According to Oosterling, the renovation lasted several months. He pointed out that the same services are being provided in the Aqua Building as the ones the SWM main office provides.