Daily Trust (Abuja)
Romoke W. Ahmad
9 July 2009
Abuja — Residents of Jikwoyi, a suburb of the Federal Capital Territory, yesterday lamented the price hike of bore-hole water by water vendors, popularly called Mairuwa.
A15 litres Jerry-can of water that hitherto sold for N20 now sells at N25, while a truck that contains 12 of such jerry-cans now cost N300 as against N250.
A resident, Tony, lamented that the hike has caused serious water problem in the community as people now fetch pond water or cut down water use in their apartments.
"We have serious problem due to the increase of water prices and I have reduced the amount I buy in my house," he disclosed.
He wondered why the price was increased during raining season and called on government to quickly intervene in order to prevent an epidemic, adding that people now rely on pond water for their household needs.
Mr. James Ulegbe, another resident described water as a necessity in life that should be made available to residents.
He said if government had provided water in the community, nobody would depend on water vendors for their water supplies.
Other residents who spoke to City News called on government to provide water in order to ease their sufferings.
A water vendor, Yahaya Abubakar explained that they increased their prices because the owners of the bore-holes where they fetch their water also increased their prices because of constant power outage.
"We have no option but to increase our price in order to make profit as we now buy a 15 litre jerry-can at N20 as against N15," he revealed.
He said no water vendor is happy with the present increase and further lamented that customers now buy less jerry-cans of water.
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