Nigeria, Kano State: water subsidies needed, but eventually prices must increase, water board says 10 years

Officials in northern Nigeria’s Kano State rehabilitated a creaking water plant in the small town of Wudil, 30 km south of Kano city in an effort to bring residents cheap, safe water, but some question if the price will stay affordable. [...] Wudil resident Ali Nera, father of nine [said ] he paid US$1.30 every day for water for his family and to maintain his garden, which amounted to 20 percent of his average monthly salary. Now [...] he pays a flat US$2 monthly rate – a 95-percent savings.

The Kano government currently heavily subsidises the water it provides: it costs the state 13 cents to produce one cubic metre of water, but users are only charged one-tenth this cost, which is not sustainable said Yahaya Bala Karaye, managing director of the Kano State Water Board.

“If we charge a higher rate and cover our overhead, they [residents] will be discouraged from patronising us and settle for river water or private water vendors with all the inherent health implications in doing so,” Karaye [said].

Private vendors [...] said water quality depends on whether they get it from the river, or open or closed wells.

Eventually, Karaye said prices must increase. “We are gradually sensitising the people of the importance of clean and safe water and once the people…appreciate the dangers of consuming unsafe water, we would add a small margin on the cost of production of the water we supply the public,” Karaye said.

Source: IRIN, 30 Mar 2009