Water Prices Increase Very Soon

[streetsmart73]

Originally Posted by loveikan

With Lau Lee gone liao...all the clowns come out to showcase their "talent"

i am still waiting for my idol to open its mouth, ah zorro

[lenghan]

Originally Posted by streetsmart73

i am still waiting for my idol to open its mouth, ah zorro

We await Vivian B and Kee Chiu too

[DinOBeeR]

Originally Posted by streetsmart73

i am still waiting for my idol to open its mouth, ah zorro

Better....water quality

Cheaper....than bottled water

Faster.....water flow from tap

[TigerKok]

With the coming carbon tax, next will be electricity increase.

Our bills are going to shoot.
Really want to juice us until last drop.

[globalcookie]

Originally Posted by lenghan

First, it was a clown and PAP MP Lee Bee Wah who equated increasing the price of water to “bring[ing] up the awareness of the importance of water”.

Now we not only have an MP but a minister, SMOS Indranee, telling us to “bite the bullet” and other jokes.

Bo sala... she is just echoing what majority does.... only kpkb for a few weeks and than accept... so she just speak the obvious.

Our income is not our shield from the bullet. Theirs are. So the bullet deflect.

[streetsmart73]

Originally Posted by DinOBeeR

Better....water quality

Cheaper....than bottled water

Faster.....water flow from tap

Yalor, ah zorro only knows those 3 words

[globalcookie]

Water price hike: Govt has to do 'right, responsible thing' in sending price signal, says Heng Swee Keat
The Finance Minister rounds off three days of Budget 2017 debates by addressing the concerns raised on the water price hike and Government expenditure.
By Justin Ong Posted 02 Mar 2017 17:58 Updated 02 Mar 2017 18:50

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SINGAPORE: The Government has to do the "right and responsible thing" when it comes to sending the right price signal on water consumption, Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat said on Thursday (Mar 2) in response to questions from the Workers’ Party (WP) on the timing of the 30 per cent increase announced at Budget 2017 last week.

WP members had raised this repeatedly in three days of debate and Non-Constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) Leon Perera sought clarification again after Mr Heng’s round-up speech.


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“The Government did have the option of either pre-announcing and/or staggering or deferring (the price increase),” said Mr Perera. “Given the Government has shared that the reasons behind this are not political, can the minister help Singaporeans understand a little better what are the non-political reasons?”

Said Mr Heng: "The fact is, first and foremost, do we agree that the price signal is important so that consumers know what the actual cost of the resource is, and therefore can then take action to mitigate use?”

“If the answer is yes, then there’s never a good time. Because I don’t think any finance minister finds it a popular thing to come here and say, ‘I’m going to increase this and increase that’. I don’t take great joy out of announcing all these increases.”

“But… The right and responsible thing is to make sure the correct price feeds through to the economy early enough, and that if we do things early, often we also have the ability to provide the mitigation support package,” he added. “We’ve got to make sure we do things correctly.”

CARBON VS WATER?

Earlier, WP chair and Aljunied GRC MP Sylvia Lim said the reasons for the water price hike provided by Environment and Water Resources Minister Masagos Zulkifli were “longstanding” and “did not come up suddenly”.

“The last 17 years, the price has been unchanged. Did it not cross the Government’s mind before this year that it will want to raise the price of water?” she asked.

“By contrast, there is a two-year lead time for the impending carbon tax. Why was it not possible to prepare Singaporeans for an increase to take effect in July, with an announcement similarly two years ahead of time? Perhaps July 2015 was not a good time to make such an announcement,” she said, alluding to the general election in 2015.

Mr Heng replied: “The carbon tax is new and details have to be carefully studied. But the more fundamental point is whether Ms Lim agrees that water is of strategic significance and that we each should do our part.”

MP Christopher de Souza, who sits on the Estimates Committee, said the comparison between the carbon tax and water price hike was not a fair one, and that it was like comparing "chalk and cheese".

“They are completely different subjects. For carbon tax, you’ve got to look at our how commitment is corralled within the overarching Paris Agreement and how it impacts all members who’ve ratified that and therefore a longer runway is completely justifiable,” he said.

“Versus … a situation where water is precious, a commodity, scarce and we have to act promptly.”

REVIEWING GOVERNMENT EXPENDITURE

Ms Lim also asked whether the Government had done adequate reviews of past and current initiatives, to weed out wasteful or ineffective expenditures.

She highlighted that there had been previous initiatives similar to the Committee on the Future Economy (CFE). “In 2010, the Economic Strategies Committee’s (ESC) aim was to grow productivity by two to three percent yearly over a decade. Which should bring us to a 30 per cent productivity increase by 2019,” said Ms Lim.

“However, after seven years, productivity improvements are way off target and weak in domestically-oriented sectors. What lessons have we drawn from here? And can these be applied to CFE strategies?”

Ms Lim then illustrated her point using the Productivity and Innovation Credit (PIC) scheme.

"The PIC is a huge scheme with the Government putting (in) billions of public funds. Do we know whether the results were worth the huge cost? As it turns out millions of dollars were also sucked out of the system through fraudulent or dubious PIC claims. What lessons have we learnt from this? We now read that the SkillsFuture scheme - launched just last year - has also been subjected to a potential fraud of S$2.2 million already paid out."

“We’ve seen the productivity data that seems to be very mixed and weak in domestic sectors for the last couple of years. Can the minister elaborate further on whether there has been any publicly published Government report that shows the effect of PIC schemes on productivity?” she asked.

“In terms of productivity growth, over the period from 2011 to 2016 it has been above 2 per cent and within range of what ESC has set out to do,” said Mr Heng. “So these measures, in terms of productivity numbers, yes, have achieved that sort of outcome.

“That is why last year I spoke about why we need to move on to take more targeted measures, because we ought to engage in the next phase.”

DERIVING REVENUE SOURCES

Ms Lim further raised a point on whether the Government had "completely recognised its sources of revenue".

She said: “10 years ago, revenue from land sales was in the region of S$4 billion to S$5 billion. Today, we see revised land sales figures for this financial year to be S$11.8 billion, and projected for the coming year to be S$8.2 billion.”

“Tapping on land sales to fund annual budgets is internationally accepted and practiced by other governments,” said Ms Lim. “As our expenditures are expected to rise in coming years, is it not reasonable to seriously think about utilising land sales revenue to fund the Budget, and reduce the need to tax people further?

Mr Heng, however, explained that proceeds from land sales go into past reserves. “It’s because of this prudence that we are able to build up our reserves and we are now drawing a part of its returns for expenditure,” he said. “We must stay disciplined in spending returns of our reserves, so they remain a stable and sustainable source of revenue over the long-term.”

- CNA/jo

Hi hi... it's all for our good.

[globalcookie]

Timing of water price hike more synchronised to political than economic cycle, says WP
The opposition politicians also call for a more in-depth explanation from the Government on water pricing methods, while voicing concern over the impact on costs of living.
By Justin Ong Posted 28 Feb 2017 22:48

ENLARGECAPTION
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SINGAPORE: The opposition Workers’ Party (WP) on Tuesday (Feb 28) questioned the timing and impact of the 30 per cent water price hike announced as part of Budget 2017 last week.

Non-Constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) Leon Perera suggested that recent Budgets from the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) Government trended towards “racking up a surplus in the early part of the Parliamentary term and then incurring deficit spending towards the end of the term close to the General Election (GE)”.

Mr Perera said the timing of various price hikes seemed “more synchronised to the political cycle than to the economic cycle”.

“Is this the right time to raise the electricity tariff? The gas price? Parking fees? Diesel usage costs? And last but not least, to raise the water price?” he asked.

“Hitting the economy with these multiple price hikes within the space of a few months may make good political sense, because people have three years to forget them before the next General Election. But do they make good economic sense?” he said.

“Why introduce all these price hikes now at a time of economic fragility, when they could tip some SMEs (small- and medium-sized enterprises) at the margins over the edge, when they increase the hardships faced by Singaporeans beset by job market insecurities? Why not introduce some of them later when there is an upswing in external demand?”



HOW DOES THE GOVERNMENT PRICE WATER?

MP for Aljunied GRC Pritam Singh called for “a deeper explanation from the Government about how it prices water”. “Can the Government also share how much it costs each desalination and NEWater plant to produce water today, especially since some of these plants operate on a private-public partnership basis? How do they compare with plants run directly by the PUB?” he enquired.

He then asked if the falling water levels in Malaysia’s Linggiu Reservoir had an impact on the water price revision, “especially since the Government’s position as late as 2013 confirmed no need to raise water prices”.

Mr Singh said he wondered if the reservoir’s water levels dipping to zero per cent would result in another rise in water prices. “That would also prompt a corollary question as to whether the latest water price revision was set with a view to account for the complete failure of the Linggiu Reservoir,” he added.

“KNOCK-ON EFFECTS ON COST OF LIVING”

NCMPs Dennis Tan and Daniel Goh both expressed fears over the water price hike having an impact on the cost of living.

Speaking in Mandarin, Mr Tan said: “The companies and industries affected most would be those in F&B. How can the Government ensure the rise in water tariffs will not cause prices to increase in hawker centres, coffeeshops and other products as well?”

Mr Tan added that he was concerned by the volume-based duty of S$0.10 per litre on diesel.

“I can understand the pollution reasons but I question if it’s wise to time it now when the present economic situation is not healthy,” he said. “Can the Government assure the people that transport costs of taxis and buses etc will not increase?”



“Although the Government has announced GST vouchers to give some rebate to some families, most Singaporeans, industries and companies will not fulfil the criteria and not receive anything, or else just a token rebate,” he argued.

Meanwhile, Associate Professor Goh described the water price hike as “ominous” as he urged the Government to strengthen safety nets for middle-income households in particular.

“The 30 per cent hike in water price and the carbon tax when implemented will have knock-on effects on the costs of living, as all areas of everyday life are affected by the use of water and electricity,” he said.

“Middle-income households do not have the benefit of the enhanced financial transfers to low-income households to soften the impact of the water price increase … (They) will feel the head-on impact of the increase in costs of living most strongly.”

High-income earners will also be subsidised many times more than middle-income workers when it comes to the Personal Income Tax Rebate of 20 per cent, capped at S$500, said Assoc Prof Goh.



Earlier, Mr Perera said Budget 2017 had “not made a decisive shift towards building local enterprises as an engine of value creation alongside MNCs and GLCs” and this was a "huge missed opportunity” he said. “We also … can and should do more to enable our students to understand how entrepreneurship is both a viable and a socially meaningful calling. Right now, I fear that most aspiring students dream of becoming civil servants or working in an MNC.”

He also said Budget 2017 initiatives did not do enough to foster risk-taking. “It is no coincidence that the countries with the most innovative companies and disruptors are also the countries that have a larger role for social safety nets and risk pooling,” he said. “We must create enough security and confidence for Singaporeans to become the disruptors and not the disrupted.”

“While we do recognise the positive moves in Budget 2017, we question the timing of some of the measures that will raise costs as well as their necessity and justification,” Mr Perera concluded. “We question whether more can be done to support a beleaguered economy.”

“And above all, we question the missed opportunities to make decisive, bold moves in local enterprise development, risk-pooling and education to pivot Singapore towards truly finding its place in the sun in the 21st century.”

- CNA/jo

well questioned Mr Perera. If not for opposition in Parliament will YOUR PAP say or question their own minister this way?

[globalcookie]

Water tax yet to raise but the canteen at my office area already took the opportunity to raise drink prices by $0.10. Boycott these unscrupulous businesses.

[Kohaku]

Originally Posted by globalcookie

Water tax yet to raise but the canteen at my office area already took the opportunity to raise drink prices by $0.10. Boycott these unscrupulous businesses.

Your place not the only 1. The coffeeshop near my workplace also increase by 0.10 as soon as the government announced the water price increased. Now I dun got there for my morning coffee, but rather walk 200m to another coffeeshop seeing at 90cent only.