Nghe An will issue water prices in rural areas.
(Baonghean) - Currently, in the whole province, 18/21 urban areas have clean water supply systems with a total designed capacity of 110,000 m3/day and night, managed and operated by 6 water supply units, providing clean water to an average of about 80% of the urban population.
Apart from Nghe An Water Supply Joint Stock Company which has clean water consumption prices, the remaining units including water supply companies in districts do not have clean water consumption prices.
Current situation
Cua Lo Water Supply Joint Stock Company, Thai Hoa Water Supply Joint Stock Company, Dien Chau Water Supply Joint Stock Company, Quynh Luu Water Supply Joint Stock Company and Yen Thanh District Clean Water Project Management Board are managing 5 water supply systems with a total capacity of 14,000m3/day and night (accounting for 12.73% of total capacity) in the whole province.
In which, the clean water supply system of Thai Hoa town is managed and operated by Thai Hoa Water Supply Joint Stock Company; designed capacity is 4,000m3/day and night, raw water source taken from Hieu River.
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| Raw water supply system in Nam Dan. Photo: Tran Chau |
Dien Chau town's clean water supply system is managed and operated by Dien Chau Water Supply Joint Stock Company, with a designed capacity of 2,000m3/day and night, raw water source is taken from Bung River. Giat town clean water supply system is managed and operated by Quynh Luu Water Supply Joint Stock Company, surface water is taken from Dong Bridge.
The clean water supply system of Yen Thanh town is managed and operated by the Yen Thanh District Clean Water Project Management Board. Raw water is taken from Lam River (surface water) through the irrigation canal system managed by the Bac Nghe An Irrigation Company.
The remaining two systems are the clean water supply system of Cua Lo town managed and operated by Cua Lo Water Supply Joint Stock Company, currently implementing the project to build Nghi Hoa Water Plant to upgrade and expand the capacity of 10,000 m3/day and night (expected to be operational in 2019). The clean water supply system of Hoang Mai town is managed and operated by Hoang Mai Water Supply Company Limited. The project is currently in the investment and construction phase.
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| Filtered water at Cau Bach Water Plant. Photo: Tran Chau |
It is known that the current consumption price of clean water produced and supplied by Thai Hoa Water Supply Joint Stock Company, Dien Chau Water Supply Joint Stock Company, Quynh Luu Water Supply Joint Stock Company, Cua Lo Water Supply Joint Stock Company and Yen Thanh Town Water Plant Management Board is currently being implemented according to the provisions at Point b, Article 1 of Decision No. 37/2016/QD-UBND dated May 13, 2016.
However, from 2018 onwards, only Nghe An Water Supply Joint Stock Company developed a plan for urban clean water prices and had the price approved by the Provincial People's Committee. The remaining units have not developed a specific clean water price plan but mainly follow the price of Nghe An Water Supply Joint Stock Company (the company that accounts for the majority of capacity in Nghe An province).
Comply with state regulations
After 2 years of implementation, the Provincial People's Committee has issued Decision No. 41/2018 regulating the price of urban clean water produced and supplied by Nghe An Water Supply Joint Stock Company. Therefore, there is no legal basis for water prices for the remaining companies to implement.
Circular No. 88/2012/TT-BTC of the Ministry of Finance stipulates that water prices must be implemented differently between urban areas; differently between urban areas of type 1, type 2, type 3, type 4. It is unreasonable for water supply companies in the province to use the same water price of Nghe An Water Supply Joint Stock Company, which is mainly used to calculate for people in Vinh urban area. Therefore, it is very necessary to regulate the price of clean water consumption in urban areas in the province by the remaining units.
“Currently, Cua Lo Water Supply Joint Stock Company and Hoang Mai Water Supply Company Limited are investing in construction, so there is no specific data to develop a pricing plan. For the clean water supply system in Kim Son town, Que Phong district, it is currently in the process of bidding to select a management unit, and there is no specific water pricing plan.
Therefore, this time, the Department of Finance only submitted to the Provincial People's Committee for consideration to promulgate the clean water consumption price in the province of Thai Hoa Water Supply Joint Stock Company, Dien Chau Water Supply Joint Stock Company, Quynh Luu Water Supply Joint Stock Company and Yen Thanh Town Water Plant Management Board" - Mr. Hoang Minh Quan added.
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| Water price list expected to be issued. |
Mr. Pham Van Viet - Director of Thai Hoa Water Supply Joint Stock Company added: The price of clean water consumption in Thai Hoa this time is not increased compared to before, which is very good. Because currently people in mountainous areas are still not interested in using clean water, the company has only exploited 5,600 customers. If the price increases, they will use well water, which is not safe for their health and wastes the state's investment resources.
It is known that among the above water supply companies, only the water price of Quynh Luu Water Supply Joint Stock Company has increased (3%), the rest have not increased or decreased. The price proposed by the province includes tax and forest environmental protection service fee of 52 VND/m3; not including environmental protection fee for domestic wastewater and drainage fee according to regulations; input raw water cost is structured in the consumption price of clean water products taken from irrigation companies at 900 VND/m3.
The water price plan is based on reports and proposals from 4 water supply units and price proposals in specific local socio-economic conditions and has different prices due to differences in input factors.
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| People in Quynh Luu in many places do not have tap water to use and have to use well water. Photo: Viet Hung |
Specifically: Thai Hoa Water Supply Joint Stock Company uses underground water and surface water from Hieu River, so it only has to pay resource tax and does not have to pay raw water to irrigation companies; Dien Chau Water Supply Joint Stock Company, Quynh Luu Water Supply Joint Stock Company, Yen Thanh Town Water Plant Management Board buys raw water from irrigation companies (VND900/m3).
