Juba Mayor Johnson Swaka. (Photo: Courtesy).

Juba Mayor Johnson Swaka has defended the City Council’s reduced water tariffs, which he said were prescribed after a thorough assessment that considered the cost of providing such service, including the fuel price.

Mayor Swaka made the statement amid a dire water shortage caused by a water sellers strike after they refused to operate under the new tariff, which lowers the cost of a drum of water from SSP5,000 to SSP2,500 in Juba town and SSP3,500 in the suburbs.

The strike has left many residential areas in the city in desperate need of water, as many resort to begging the blue tankers to return to the streets with their preferred rates.

The drivers, mostly foreigners, rejected the City Council rates, arguing that they were insufficient to cover the rising costs of operating their tankers, including maintenance, fuel, and traffic fees.

Addressing the situation, Mayor Swaka explained how they resolved to reduce the selling prices of water to the consumers.

“Now as I am talking to you, the fuel is SSP4,600, and when we did the studies of pricing, a litter of the fuel had dropped from SSP6,000 to SSP4,200,” he narrated.

“We said for us not to do pricing every day, and we put the worst assumptions: if, until now, the price of fuel didn’t reach SSP7,000, how much will the price of water be? That’s why we arrived at a calculation of SSP2,500 per drum.”

In October 6, an activist called on the City Council to reconsider reducing the water prices without addressing factors driving the cost, adding that such decision has worsened the dire water crisis facing Juba residents for years.

Edmund Yakani, the Executive Director of Community Empowerment for Progress Organization said the decision has worsened the dire water crisis in the city and pushed some businesses on the verge of collapse.

Yakani appealed to the City Council to back off from the decision to reduce water prices until it bring down the costs of fuel and spare parts which are essential in the provision of such service.

In his defense, the mayor contended that the decision to impose the new prices was backed by the parliament and warned any defiant water tank drivers of punitive measures.

He said the City Council will now assign its guards to each water tanker to ensure they sell at the imposed new price rate.

“Now, we are putting one of our council guards. They will go with these water tankers to the residential areas and sell the water at the price of 2,500 SSP, and whoever is violating the law, we will open a case against them,” he said.

Mayor Swaka said the municipal council will paint the reduced prices on both sides of every water tanker and appealed to the public to avoid paying the initially high prices.

“We have our courts in Munuki, Suk Libya, Kator, and Juba, and these three courts can do their job. In each water tanker, we are putting a signpost of the rate on the right and left.”

“We are urging our people not to pay at (initial prices) because they are the ones complaining about the price of water, which is very expensive—5,000 and 6,000 SSP.”

“That is why the national parliament called us and told us and said go and price the water tankers and we will stand by you, and the water tankers are supposed to commit to this price because we put the issue of fuel in consideration.”

Although the Nile river flows through the heart of Juba, its residential areas have no pipe water distribution system, and rely on blue tankers to distribute water for domestic use.

In October 5, Central Equatoria Governor Augustino Jadalla directed Juba City Council leadership to withdraw the license of water tankers who continue to stay off work amid an ongoing strike that has left Juba residents in dire need of water.

In September 11, the national parliament summoned water stakeholders including the Water Minister, the Governor of Central Equatoria, the Mayor of Juba, and officials from Urban Water Corporation to raise the issue of rising water prices and propose a solution.

Following deliberations, the parliament recommended that the water stakeholders hold a meeting to address the concern and directed relevant parliamentary committees to oversee the implementation of a solution to the rising water cost.