The reporter, wang chaopo, zinan
Water prices have recently increased throughout the country. Nanjing has gone up, kunming has gone up; no sing, yang and changzhou adjustments have been scheduled; and price hearings have been held in shanghai, shenyang, loyang and lanzhou。
Where's chinan
The economic reporter was informed by the chinan city prices board that the water price adjustment programme in jenan city had been submitted to the municipal authorities for consideration and that price hearings would be held only after approval by the municipality。
There's an impulse to raise the price of basic water
At present, the cost of water per cubic metre is 2. 95 yuan per household for residents of jenan city, which was established in june 2005. For the following four years, although cpi and ppi have experienced a large cycle of “hill roller coasters”, water prices have not been adjusted to some extent to stabilize price indices。
“the price of running water is not the price of running water per cubic metre, but rather the price of running water to the household”. The amount of $2. 95 consists of three components - $0. 4 for water resources, $0. 7 for sewage treatment and $ 1. 85 for basic water, which is only charged to the water group。
It is understood that water prices in jenan city are currently divided into five categories: water for living, water for business, water for running services, water for special industries and water for hotels and restaurants for tourism. Of these, water is available to the household at $2. 95/m3/m3; water is available to the enterprise at a household price of 3. 8/m3 including water resources fees of 0. 4/m3 and sewage treatment fees of 0. 8/m3 and basic water prices of 2. 6/m3; water is available for the operation of services at a household price of 5. 4/m3 including water resources fees of 0. 4/m3 and sewage treatment fees of 0. 9/m3 and basic water prices of 3. 45/m3 including water resources charges of 0. 4/m3 and sewage treatment fees in specialized industries. It is clear that basic water prices account for the bulk of household-to-house prices. "we have no plans to adjust basic water prices." the staff of jenan water group ltd. Confirmed to the economics reporter. “there is no need for citizens to worry, and if they want to raise the price of water, they will certainly hold a price hearing in advance to consult the public at large.”
Despite the water industry group's denial that the basic water price would be raised, the leading press reporter is aware that the jenan water industry group is currently in a loss and that the water price is allegedly not keeping up the cost of water supply. In addition, there has been an ongoing call for water conservation through higher water prices. Taken together, basic water prices have an impulse to increase。
Even if basic water prices are not adjusted, this does not mean that the price of water for living does not。
Sewerage costs are likely to increase
In an interview with the news reporter, staff from the price office of the chinan city price office stated that the adjustment was mainly to increase the cost of sewage treatment, as the current sewage treatment fee was no longer sufficient to cover the cost of sewage treatment. As an important component of domestic water prices, increasing the cost of sewage treatment will inevitably lead to higher prices of municipal running water。
With regard to the scope of the adjustment, the above-mentioned staff stated that the programme had been submitted to the municipality and had not been confirmed and approved by the municipality, which was not in a position to disclose the specific scope of the adjustment for the time being. It is understood that adjustment of a one-time water price will not normally be limited to one item and that the basic water price and water treatment costs may be adjusted accordingly. Once authorized by the municipality, they will proceed to organize price hearings。
As early as early as july, the jenan municipal utilities authority had been informed that jenan was adjusting the sewage treatment fee from an average of $0. 80/m3 to $0. 00/m3-$1. 2/m3. In this case, the price of water to the household of the residents of jenan city will increase from $2. 95 per cubic metre to $3. 25 per cubic metre。
If so, chinan's water prices would be the highest in the province. The average price of water available to the residents of shandong is currently $2. 803/m3, of which $3. 25 per cubic metre, $3. 0 per cubic metre, $3. 00 per zianen, $2. 99 per cubic metre, while the prices of water in qingdao, dates, camps east, smokers, weihai, sunlight, laijun, texas, chai city, pieng, susai and namzhou are lower than the current prices in chinan。
However, the increase in the cost of sewage treatment in chinan this time was not a “leading up” but a “repension”. As far back as 2005, the shandong provincial government, in its repository on issues related to further increase of sewage fees, made it clear that “by the end of 2005, the standard for municipal sewage treatment in the established districts was raised to an average of $1. 00”. To date, only jenan in 17 municipalities in the province has yet to implement this standard. As stated by a sewage expert, “the sewage treatment plant built in jinan has the highest discharge standards in the province, but charges are the lowest in 17 municipalities in the province”
Water resource adjustment “not heard yet”
Staff from the water resources branch of the department of water resources of shandong province indicated to the reporters whether and when the cost of water was adjusted would require consultation between the price and the finance department, and that they had not heard of any adjustment to the cost of water。
It is understood that, under the regulations on permits for access to water and on fees for water resources, promulgated in 2006, the criteria for the collection of water resources are set by the authorities responsible for prices of the people's governments of the provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government at the same level as the fiscal and water administration authorities. Water fees are levied by the water authorities, and the amount paid for water resources is determined on the basis of the criteria for the collection of water charges at the point where the water is taken and the amount actually collected. Fees levied on water resources should be fully integrated into the fiscal budget, with the financial sector being allocated to the conservation, protection and management of water resources in accordance with the approved sectoral budget arrangements, and also for the rational development of water resources。
The staff member also indicated that the per capita ownership of water resources in shandong was in the last place in the country and that the water sector had been promoting market-based reforms in the use of water resources and improving their efficiency. At present, shanghai, wuhan and others have established water assets development corporations, which are responsible for the development and use of state-owned water assets。
