The Star : Nov 1, 2006

Businessmen involved in industries that use lots of water will wait for next month's water bill before deciding whether or not to raise prices

�There might be an increase, but I think we will wait for next month's water bill to see how much more it'll be,� car wash supervisor Teh Leong Ket, 47, said yesterday.�

�Up to 17.6% increase is quite high, as we can spend RM600 a month on water.� �

He added, however, it would be up to his managers to decide whether there would be an increase in price. �

�Right now we charge RM12 for a wash and vacuum for a normal saloon car. Who knows? It might go up to RM13 a car,� he said. �

Hair salon creative director May Foong said it was hard to tell now if there would be an increase in charges. �

�Our water bill can reach up to RM600 a month. But I think it's a normal reaction for salons to raise their prices a little if the water tariff goes up,� she said. �

Restaurant operator Susan Beh, 31, however, said that she would try to absorb the increase. �

�We won't be increasing our food prices at the moment. Assuming that the increase for restaurants is RM7.50 a day, it should be about RM195 a month for us,� she noted for restaurants that shut one day a week. �

�That should still be fine, but we'll have to save water where we can and cut down on other costs.� �

Ken Damansara Condominium Pre-management Cooperation chairman Ng Hean Hing said the water tariff increase was fair, but added that the quality must be improved. �

He also welcomed the state government's move to enable those living in high rise residential units to be billed based on residential rates rather than commercial rates.�

�It is good news that Syabas can install individual meters for us to reduce the rate we are paying,� he said.�

MTUC president Syed Sharir Syed Mahmud said the Selangor government was �naive� if it actually believes that the increase in water tariffs would not significantly impact the lives of consumers. �

�They are arguing that domestic consumers will not be affected much as the increase only affects those who use more than 20 cubic metres of water a month, but they fail to take into account that the consumers will face higher costs everywhere else like at the laundry outlet or eateries,� he said.�

He said the new tariffs also did not make sense as there had been no significant improvement in efficiency in supplying water since privatisation that could justify the increase.�