Brazil: Abcon promotes fair rates for water, sewerage services

Brazil’s national water and sewerage concessionaires association Abcon has started a campaign to promote fair rates for water and sewerage services.

Speaking at a seminar on sources of financing for water and sanitation, organised by a lower house commission on environment and sustainable development, Abcon president Yves Besse mentioned several constraints faced by his members, including:

• rates are kept too low, for political reasons, to recover costs or expand services
• the lack of collateral to pay loans from federal banks
• legislation regarding the mandatory installation of individual water meters in homes which requires that sewerage rates cannot exceed 50% of the water charges

Source: BNamericas [subscription site], 30 May 2008