DOWASCO‘s General Manager, Bernard Ettinoffe, has announced the implementation of a Water Guarantee Charge effective June 1, 2024, during a press conference at the Ministry of Finance Conference Room. This new charge is part of a broader strategy to ensure financial sustainability without increasing base water and sewerage tariffs.
The Water Guarantee Charge will be tiered based on customer categories to distribute financial responsibility fairly among DOWASCO’s clientele. Large businesses will incur an additional charge of $800 per month, medium-sized businesses will pay an additional $175, small businesses $100, and domestic users an extra $15. This structure aims to minimally impact smaller consumers while ensuring larger enterprises contribute more significantly to the infrastructure’s sustainability.
Currently, domestic unmetered customers pay a flat rate of $48.30, while metered customers are billed $21.62 for up to 1000 gallons, plus $10.12 for each additional 1000 gallons. Commercial rates are set at $36.57 for the first 1000 gallons and $13.57 thereafter. These base rates will remain unchanged even as the Water Guarantee Charge is added.
This financial adjustment follows a review by the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), which in 2018 suggested a rate increase of 61 percent for sewerage and 41 percent for water to meet the operational costs. However, these recommendations were not implemented until now due to their potential impact. Instead, DOWASCO and the government opted for the Water Guarantee Charge as a more manageable solution.
Ettinoffe emphasized that the charge is not intended to generate profit but to cover the shortfall in operating costs. Any surplus funds collected through this charge will be placed in a special account managed jointly by the Government of Dominica and DOWASCO, dedicated solely to emergency purposes.
This measure reflects DOWASCO’s commitment to maintaining reliable and affordable water services while addressing the financial challenges that have become untenable over the years. The structured approach ensures that all stakeholders contribute to the financial health of the water services system in a manner that is proportional to their usage and impact.
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