Mauna residents cue at a water tap as water tankers protest fixed price by Juba City Council. | Photo: File

Residents of the Mauna suburb in Juba have been forced to queue at a water point as water tankers stopped supplying the area in protest of the fixed prices by the city council.

Some of them told to Eye Radio they have been without water for days.

“We now have four days without water in the area. The water tank drivers are insisting that the price of water is 1000 SSP despite the price fixed by the city council which says a barrel of water is 800 for the nearest water station near the area,” one local said.

Another said “We are suffering from a real crisis regarding the issue of water because they asked how much you buy water. And if you tell them 800, they turn away and insist on 1,000 and they leave you and go.”

A third complainer is calling on the authorities to intervene and resolve the problem.

‘We call on the government to intervene and resolve this crisis. They [water tankers] say the new pricing isn’t right with them even though they fill the tank from here near the area,

She went on to say “Currently, I am near the tap, and there are many women and children queuing due to lack of water, as a result of the refusal by the tanker drivers to sell water with new water fixed price.”

On Friday Juba City Council said it would take punitive measures against water tank drivers who violated the recent order dictating the water prices.

The directive came after the Municipal Council set the pricing for different capacities of water containers in Juba town.

The local order issued on Monday, May 29, 2023, fixed the price of 200 liters of water from 800 to 1000 pounds for areas near filling points, and 1,500 pounds for far places.

The City Council during the week began reinforcing the order as a temporary measure to regulate the water price.

Timon Wani, Public Officer at the City Council, warns that any water seller who defies the by-law shall be fined SSP.100,000, jailed, or face both.