Hanoi will expand the supply of clean water to all its downtown area residents as well as a few outlying districts next year, but they would have to accept higher prices.

Hanoi will expand the supply of clean water to all its downtown area residents as well as a few outlying districts next year, but they would have to accept higher prices, an official said Friday.

Nguyen Nhu Hai, general director of Hanoi Clean Water Trading Ltd., quoted by local newswire Vnexpress as saying, “clean water will reach all downtown Hanoi districts after prices are raised on January1.”

Around 96 percent of people in the downtown area of the capital city are already connected to the clean water supply system, and six wards in Hoang Mai District and three in Long Bien are not, he said.

Hai said these wards are included in the plan to install more water pipes in 2010.

“The water price is currently subsidized and can only be supplied to broader areas once the residents agree to the higher prices,” he added.

The company will also consider bringing clean water to outlying districts including Dong Anh Thanh Tri and Ha Dong districts, Hai said.

Only one percent of residents in parts of the old Ha Tay Province which were added to Hanoi during the city expansion last August are connected to the city’s clean water supply system, he said.

According to the water utility’s plan, water prices in the city’s downtown areas starting January 1 will be VND4,000 (US$0.22) per cubic meter for the first 20 cubic meters, VND5,700 for 20-35 cubic meters, and VND9,400 for larger volumes.

Prices in the outlying districts will be a bit lower, he said, without elaborating.

With the higher water prices, Hai said residents will get the pipeline free instead of paying VND1.5-2 million a household as is done now. They will also get the water meter changed regularly for free and get free maintenance, he added.

VNN/Thanh Nien