7 hours ago25 municipalities in Albania raised water prices in 2024
Periskopi(a year ago)
(a year ago)In Albania, 6 regional water pipeline companies -- including 25 of the country's municipalities -- raised the price of drinking water for citizens during 2024, despite objections to developed public hearings. National Water Administration data says the slightest increase is about 8.6% for family drinking water consumers [...]
The National Water Administration data reports that the smallest increase is around 8.6% for family drinking water consumers for the regional company of the Gjirokastra water pipeline and totals up to 37.5 % for relatives at Shkodra and the Deje Vaun.
The rise in water prices for the Lezha regions of Fier, Pogradec, Durres, Gjirokastra and Shkodra in 2024 is expected to be followed according to the National Water Administration, even in three other regional water supply societies in Korca, Elbasan and Berat, which are in the process of considering new tariffs.
During the developed public hearings, according to reports by the National Water Administration and field reports, citizens have opposed the increases in drinking water tariffs, since they particularly burden families with low incomes and pensioners.
A significant increase in water supply services has been marked almost for all municipalities, even waste rates and fixed service fees.
Water bills are accompanied by municipalities even with the paying of local taxes, making financial burden unaffordable for the thousands of families living in poverty and with limited income.
Aquifer companies have almost presented the same arguments for increasing the price of drinking water at the Water Regulatory Administration that approves new tariffs.
According to them, rising water prices are made due to the need to improve financial performance and cover over 100% of operational costs, due to increased materials and minimum wage prices, improve water supply and reduce <x0 use of non-income”, which continues to be according to municipalities themselves at very high levels.
The National Channel Falls Strategy 2022-2030 forecasts a 75% increase in water surf between 2020 and 2030, aimed at boosting the financial sustainability of water companies.
The water sector in Albania remains among the most problematic because of the losses some of the biggest water supply companies, lack of investments, and <x0 use of income” that cannot get fatened due to lack of measurements and mismanagement.
According to reports from the National Water Administration Report, in 2023 it is estimated that water companies withdrew from nature to the consumer network about 307 million cubic metres of water, but 64% of the water was lost to the network as a result of lack of measurements and management problems, and only the rest was paid by users.
The duration of the national water supply, according to the Water Regulatory Administration, is 16.6 hours a day, with a slight increase of 0.3 hours a day compared to 2022.
While “the coverage of the national water supply for 1923 is at the level of 76.2% of the 78% in 2022, so it has suffered a decline of about 1.8%,” says the Water Regulatory Agency report.
The decline of this indicator, said the report, has resulted from the population decline in areas managed by water companies of 58,098 people, “, while the water-serviced population has suffered a decline of 127,055 inhabitants of”.
Meanwhile, coastal cities have the highest water loss rates where more than 70% of the water being thrown into the network does not cash in, an extremely high figure compared with other cities and talking about the critical situation of management, reports VOA.
The sewer situation is even heavier. According to the report “on a national scale of sewer coverage is at 55% and it continues to have a slight growth trend even for 2017 with a slight improvement of 0.8% compared to 2022”.
In the sector, says the report Water Regulatory Agency for 2023, there are still about 33 thousand customers who perform the collection of contaminated waters through septic pits against 708 thousand customers who are serviced by sanitation society.
The water sector in Albania, according to economic analysts, has noted few improvements and water pipeline societies have often been at the centre of strong criticism of financial management and waste, but also the mass employment of party militants in the irrigation companies that have increased financial costs.
