The Namibian National Society for Human Rights (NSHR) has slammed a local government scheme to provide prepaid water, saying it is making the basic commodity "unaffordable for the poor".

The usual daily minimum of 40 litres of water required by a family of six costs less than US$ 0.05 (EUR 0.04) in an urban area. In rural areas the water is five times more expensive. Nongoloh adds that farmers also have to pay water charges per livestock head every month. To use the prepaid system, everyone has to buy a water card for US$ 15 (EUR 12.40).

The decision to set up the prepaid water system was influenced by the failure of local authorities to recover several million Namibian dollars in unpaid water bills.

"The Namibian government is very aware of the plight of the poor, and we are looking into the possibility to introduce a national water tariff," says Nickey Iyambo, Minister of Agriculture, Water and Rural development, at a recent strategic workshop of the national water utility NamWater.

Opposition politician Katuutire Kaura suggests that the provision of basic water services should be reincorporated into the public sector as a core function of government, operated on a non-profit and transparent basis, and not by a utility.

Related news: Namibia: study slams water charges as 'new apartheid', Source Weekly, 20 Apr 2004; UK: government gives green light for compulsory water metering, Source Weekly, 16 Mar 2006 (includes information on water metering in developing countries).

Contact: Mr. Phil ya Nangoloh, Director, National Society for Human Rights (NSHR), Namibia, nshr@nshr.org.na, http://www.nshr.org.na/

Source: IRIN, 22 Mar 2006

Tags: financing