MP urges Juba City Council to subsidize fuel for water tankers
A lawmaker has called on the Juba City Council to subsidize fuel for water tankers and introduce a new pricing structure to make water more affordable for local consumers.
Dr David Nailo Mayo described the ongoing silent protest over reduced prices as a serious crisis.
For a couple of days now, netizens in Juba witnessed scarcity of water as water tankers downed their tools following an order by the City Council fixing a new water price per drum.
The lawmaker also suggested that the City Council negotiate with the water suppliers and reinstate the price to enable continuous water supply.
“You know with the law of unintended consequences, which the City Council did, the City Council have to negotiate with the water tankers,” Hon Nailo made the remarks during Eye Radio’s Sundown Show.
“Negotiations have two parts either reinstate the price that was and continue the business as usual, or the City Council maintains the price it proposes but subsidizes the fuel for the water tankers,” he said.
“Either a subsidy or let the business go as usual. Without none of those, the law of unintended consequences is causing other consequences,” he said.
“Coming to the medium and long term for the City Council, the City Council has a lot of roles to play,” he added.
“The Local Government Act 2009 specifies the sources of revenue for the local government, it is not only the water. There are other sources of revenue that it could have played around for example property tax,” he concluded.
Dr Nailo has described it as “the law of unintended consequences”, how the City Council cut the water prices to save the suffering population, a move that has prompted a strike by suppliers.
He says the City Council may not have intended to cause the strike but in an attempt to save the local consumers, its action triggered a protest by the water suppliers.
He says the shortage of water within the city is causing harm to the people who cannot go about their daily businesses with a school reportedly closed over the scarcity.
“You see what is happening for the last four days is, you know the strike by the water providers, that’s the water tankers. And of course, this is very serious,” Hon Nailo made the remarks during Eye Radio’s Sundown Show.
“If people go without bathing, cannot wash their clothes, and cannot cook food because there is no water, there is a crisis. And this was triggered by the City Council trying to cut the water price per drum,” he said.
“I think the City Council was operating in the interest of the people, also it is what we call the law of unintended consequences,” he added.
“When you want to do good, but on the other hand you are harming the other. So, the law of unintended consequences is what we see here,” Hon Nailo said.
