Nghi Kim (Vinh City): People have to buy clean water at high prices

(Baonghean) - The price of domestic water is 2 times, sometimes even 3 times higher than in the inner city; people constantly complain and reflect but the local government and related units have not yet found a solution to overcome this. That is the current situation in the use of domestic water in Nghi Kim commune, Vinh city.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Phuong, a resident of Hamlet 3, Nghi Kim Commune, indignantly said that Hamlet 3 and Hamlet 6 are only separated by an inter-village road, while the residents of Hamlet 6 only have to pay more than 6,000 VND for 1 m3 of domestic water, the residents of the hamlet have to pay 11,500 VND. Then, Ms. Phuong led us to her house and turned on the tap for everyone to see. "You see, the water flow is not that strong, but we have to pay twice as much as other places." With a similar sentiment, Mr. Nguyen Duc Tri, a resident of Hamlet 3, said that each month his family uses up to 10 m3 of water, and there are months when the water price reaches 14,000 VND/m3. But this is not the highest price that households in Nghi Kim Commune have to pay. According to the residents of Hamlet 5, there are times when the water price reaches 16,000 - 17,000 VND/m3. But in hamlet 5, if the inner hamlet area (south) only has to pay a price of over 10,000/m3, the outer hamlet area (north) often has to pay an exorbitant price.

Mr. Dang Van Than's water meter reading book.

Mr. Dang Van Than checks the water meters of 38 households in the outer hamlet. Photo: Ho Quy

Mr. Dang Van Than - deputy head of hamlet 5, the person in charge of collecting water bills in the outer hamlet area, said that hamlet 5 in the outer area has 38 households. The households have been using clean water for 4 years now. When installing the pipeline system, each household paid 1.5 million VND. The high water price has been due to many reasons. First of all, it is due to pipe loss, limited awareness of water users, and the technical team does not have expertise. In particular, most households use water by opening the tap to let it drip. Therefore, each family's water meter does not work, but the general meter of the residential area still works. This is the reason why the water loss in the pipeline is very high, but they do not know what to do. Mr. Dang Van Than also said that currently, the People's Committee of the commune calculates the water price for people sold at the general meter at 8,300 VND/m3. However, because of the loss, because people do not use water properly, the water price is often pushed up. Accordingly, the method of calculating the fee is applied in the following way: each family, after paying the price according to the commune's regulations, will have to pay the additional loss cost of the entire system based on the main meter. The problem here is that the amount of water calculated on each household's meter may be low but at the main meter it is always high due to loss and leakage.

The domestic water system of Nghi Kim commune was invested and installed since 2007 with a total investment of 10 billion 165 million VND. Of which, the provincial budget is 3 billion 325 million VND; the city budget is 3 billion 137 million VND; the commune budget and people's contributions are 3 billion 707 million VND. The domestic water project in Nghi Kim is invested by the commune People's Committee, unlike the wards and communes in Vinh City (Nghe An Water Supply One Member Co., Ltd. is the investor). Nghi Kim commune also proactively hired independent consulting and design units. Therefore, all matters related to the domestic water system, such as engineering, repair, and monthly water bill collection, are proactively done by the commune. Mr. Nguyen Dinh Tuan - Vice Chairman of Nghi Kim Commune People's Committee said that for a long time, Nghe An Water Supply One Member Co., Ltd. has sold tap water to the commune through the main meter. The applied price is 5,500 VND/m3 (including 10% volume support). Meanwhile, the commune sells it back to households at the cluster meter for 8,300 VND, this amount does not include the loss rate and the actual final water price that users have to pay. Regarding this, Mr. Nguyen Dinh Tuan said that the reason for the difference in water price is because it has to be taken from this source to pay the salaries of 3 members of the commune's Water Management Board, each person is paid 2.5 million VND/month. These people are responsible for checking, maintaining and repairing the commune's water system. In addition, the collected money is also taken to pay the group leaders and cluster leaders in charge of domestic water in residential areas.

Currently, 16/16 hamlets of Nghi Kim commune have been using tap water, with 95% of the population using it. In which hamlets 4, 6, 11 received state support to install 100% of the pipeline system. The reason is that these hamlets were previously directly affected by the Hung Dong landfill. Some other hamlets received partial support such as hamlets 1, 5, 7... That is why in the same area, hamlets that received support from Vinh City to install the system, "eat" water directly from Nghe An Water Supply Company Limited have low prices, the rest have to buy water at high prices. Mr. Nguyen Dinh Tuan said that the commune has repeatedly sent official dispatches requesting Nghe An Water Supply Company Limited to take over the water supply network system of Nghi Kim commune, but so far it has not been accepted. Or maybe the water supply network in Nghi Kim has such a high loss rate that the company does not take over or accept the handover, but only sells at the main meter.

Mr. Trinh Van Thang - Head of Technical Department - Nghe An Water Supply One Member Co., Ltd. said that the water loss is most likely due to design problems; the water pipe is too small so the pressure is not strong enough, the water meter is not installed in the right position, the meter quality is not guaranteed... But this reality is beyond the handling of the Water Supply Company because Nghi Kim Commune is the investor. Mr. Nguyen Xuan Thang - Chairman and Director of Nghe An Water Supply One Member Co., Ltd. affirmed that the water supply problem in Vinh City is the responsibility of the Water Supply Company. However, if the Company is the investor, the company will work directly with the customers. As for other investors such as wards, communes or units and enterprises, the company is responsible for selling tap water through the main meter. Nghi Kim Commune is no exception. “Nghi Kim Commune is the investor and has hired other design, consulting and supervision units, so that is the investor's responsibility. The Company is ready to receive and manage the domestic water network system in Nghi Kim, to solve the problems that have occurred for a long time, but to do so, Nghi Kim Commune needs a written request and must have the agreement of Vinh City People's Committee. On that basis, the Company will conduct a survey, re-examine the network, propose investment solutions to renovate and repair to supply water at reasonable prices to households. However, since the beginning of the year, it has not received any written request from Nghi Kim Commune,” Mr. Nguyen Xuan Thang affirmed.

The fact that the price of domestic water in Nghi Kim commune is too high has been a reality for many years. Inspection teams at all levels have visited Nghi Kim many times to assess. But why has the situation of water loss and high water prices here not been resolved yet? Is it possible that Nghi Kim commune has not fulfilled its responsibility to the people?

Dao Tuan