Muamer Bandić, the representative of the Party for BiH in the Sarajevo Canton Assembly, said a few days ago that “instead of getting a new government, the residents of Sarajevo will get higher bills for water and waste water drainage.” Vodovod (water utility company) does not rule out that possibility, although the Government has not yet considered it.
Bosnia and Herzegovina is rich in water, including the surroundings of the capital. The one we get from the pipe in our homes is potable and we use it for hygiene. The information that the price of water will rise worries the residents of Sarajevo. They can’t live without water, and they wonder how to pay the bills, which have been high so far?
Representative in the cantonal Assembly Muamer Bandić claims that it is proposed that the price of water be increased to 1.08 marks per cubic meter for all categories of consumers.
“That price increase should not be to that extent and I believe that the management of public resources must be much more serious and favorable for our citizens. A way must be found for the government to subsidize a part of those costs,” Bandic said.
To the inquiry about the increase in the price of water, the Public Company Vodovod i Kanalizacija replied that due to the constant increase in the price of electricity, the necessary material for the repair of breakdowns, there was an increase in the Company’s operating costs. They do not rule out price increases.
“Increasing the price of services provided to consumers by”Vodovod i kanalizacija” d.o.o. Sarajevo is inevitable because the current price is definitely unsustainable and uneconomic, and makes it impossible for the Company to operate in accordance with the needs of citizens”.
The relevant minister says that the government has not yet considered the proposal to increase the price of water in Canton, and if it were to happen, he assures, the price increase will not be enormous.
Minister of Municipal Economy of the Canton, Enver Hadziahmetovic:
“Citizens who use the least amount of water, that’s about three cubic meters, that’s some social categories, the government will keep that in mind and there won’t be any price increase for them.”
In Eco action, they say that they approve the price increase, if it will improve the condition of the water supply network in Sarajevo Canton.
“Water has to be purified, water quality has to be constantly monitored, so water really isn’t a free resource.”
There is no decision on the price increase yet, but the citizens fear that it will be an additional burden, who knows which order, on their already empty pockets.
