THE government’s decision to introduce a flat rate for water across the country has highlighted the huge discrepancies in charges between one town and another.
So residents in Nicosia pay 30 cents per cubic metre for the first 20 consumed while those in the Famagusta area get the first 15 cubic metres free and those in Limassol pay just 6 cents a cubic metre for the first 40 used.
Not surprisingly, with the cheapest water in Cyprus, households in Ayia Napa and Paralimni in the Famagusta district have been fingered as those whose consumption has shot up the most since the end of water rationing earlier this year.
Nicosia residents have the lowest standing charge in the country, but then pay the most per cubic metre: the fixed charge stands at £2.40 for every two-month billing period, and households then pay 30 cents per cubic metre for the first 20, then 45 cents up to 40 cubic metres, 70 cents between 41 and 50m3, 90 cents a cubic metre for 51-60m3 and £1.10 per cubic metre thereafter.
Those in the Larnaca district pay according to the same brackets as those in Nicosia. They start off with a higher standing charge, £3,50 every two months, but then pay half as much as Nicosians with 15 cents a cubic metre for the first 20, then 35c, 55c, 75c and 90c per cubic metre for each bracket as consumption goes up.
Famagusta district bills come only once every three months. The standing rate is a bit higher — £5 – but consumers pay nothing for the first 15 cubic metres used. The rate is 45 cents a cubic metre for 16-30m3, 55c between 31 and 45m3, 60 cents from there to 60 cubic metres, 75 up to 75m3 and 90 cents a cubic metre thereafter.
In Paphos, the district with the richest water reserves of its own, residents also pay a £5 standing charge every three months. Water rates are a mere five cents per cubic metre for the first 30 consumed, rising to 22 cents between 31 and 60 cubic metres, 55 cents a cubic metre for the next 15, 79 cents from 76-90 m3, and 94 cents per cubic metre after that.
Limassol bills come every four months with a standing charge of £6. The first 40 cubic metres of water are charged at just six cents per cubic metre, the next 40 only rise to 11 cents a cubic metre, then to 22 cents between 81 and 120m3, 40 cents from 121-160m3 and 56 cents a cubic metre for 161 m3 and above.
Agriculture Minister Costas Themistocleous said on Tuesday such discrepancies had to end.
“It is an age-old situation and we want to introduce one price for the whole of Cyprus,” he said.
The minister said the key to changing the water pricing system was to pass a law setting up an umbrella Water Agency for the whole country. Each district currently has its own water board, setting its own rates.
The idea of merging the Water Boards and the Water Development Department to form a single body has been around for decades, but Themistocleous seemed confident the new parliament, which convenes today, would finally approve the relevant bill.
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