"We weren’t surprised by the high water bills that people received. This was an emergency plan, and the complaints did not surprise us," said Minister of National Infrastructures Uzi Landau at a press conference today. He added that, in a few days, he will submit to the cabinet secretariat a proposal to suspend or alleviate the drought tax.
As for the water tariff hike scheduled for January, Landau said, "The current price of water charged from the public does not reflect its real cost. A price hike is therefore inevitable. For years, we didn’t update the price water as required, reflecting a degree of irresponsibility. The current difference between demand and what is needed is large. I will fight so that the price hike will be gradual and prolonged."
Meanwhile, the Knesset Finance Committee subcommittee on the drought tax yesterday recommended suspending the drought tax during the winter rainy season. The subcommittee said that people generally do not water their lawns anyway during winter, resulting in excessive water use, so there was no point in burdening the public further. The subcommittee also recommended raising the water quotas, beginning in 2010, from 12 cubic meters per person per month to 16 cubic meters.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on November 10, 2009
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