Stillborn: Hong Kong tainted water scandal means debate on higher tariffs may not take off
Hong Kong water consumers now pay much less than counterparts in many other cities, prompting calls to raise tariffs to recover costs
As fallout from the damning government inquiry into last year’s lead-in-water crisis reverberates through society, one issue is unlikely to return to the agenda for a while – higher tariffs.
Twenty years of frozen water rates and a scandal that has affected 29,000 households will render any talk of raising tariffs politically toxic.
But low rates will do nothing to reduce Hong Kong’s unusually high consumption. The average person uses 220 litres of water a day, including flushwater, about 30 per cent higher than the international average with no reduction in sight.
Per capita, the city pays just US$33 per 100 cubic metres of water compared to London’s US$258, Tokyo’s US$141 and Seoul’s US$53. Two thirds of users still pay less than HK$50 a month for water.
The government’s own Working Group on Long-Term Fiscal Planning last year suggested a rate review given the fiscal burden of more expensive water imports.
