A DRINKING WATER CONNECTION FOR every home should not be a luxury. Yet this is not self-evident for large parts of the population. Many – if not most – villages in the interior lack access to clean drinking water. But households in Greater Paramaribo and other places in the coastal plain also have difficulty getting a connection. Not always because there is no water supply in the area, but because the connection costs are too high for many families.
The fact that such an important necessity of life remains financially out of reach for many citizens is a fact that the government cannot and should not ignore. The starting signal was given on Friday the connection of your own water tap for every home in block 3 of Sunny Point. Residents may pay the connection costs of SRD 18,000 to SRD 23,000 in installments at the Surinaamsche Waterleidingmaatschappij.
For every mishap, a horde of dignitaries, including the president, is called in to give the go-ahead, even though the intended result has not yet been achieved
With utilities, the government or utility company usually pays for the main infrastructure, while households pay for their own connection. A personal contribution is reasonable and promotes the responsible use and maintenance of the facility. But there are limits. The connection costs are astronomically high for many households. Some will therefore not even start a payment arrangement, because they simply do not have the money.
This deserves attention, because high connection costs increase social inequality. It may be better to have citizens pay a modest entry fee and have the remaining connection costs reimbursed via a periodic levy on top of the monthly water bill. In this way, the financial threshold is lowered, without the costs being fully borne by the government.
One of the sustainable development goals for 2030 is that everyone worldwide has access to clean drinking water. It is already certain that Suriname will fall far short of achieving this goal. Certainly not with such excessively high connection costs by Surinamese standards.
Water, like health care and education, is not a luxury whose access should largely depend on one’s wallet. The government does not have to make every connection virtually free, but it must ensure that citizens do not fall by the wayside because they cannot bear the costs. Sunny Point is a step in the right direction. However, the high initial connection costs give the impression that the government is taking it too lightly.
Furthermore, it would behoove the government not to launch projects with so much fuss and fanfare for every care task. Just as 350 social housing units are a drop in the ocean, so too are water connections in Sunny Point. At every turn, a horde of dignitaries, including the president, is called in to give the go-ahead, even though the intended result has not yet been achieved. That gives a bad taste of propaganda. Let the actions and results speak for themselves.
