Prices Of Bott;ed Water doubles In Juba

8th March 2011 – (Juba) –The price of bottled drinking water has almost doubled in Juba due to unscrupulous retailers.

According to Mister Araya Hezekia, the Manager of Aquana Water Company Limited, which supplies water to most hotels in Juba, some retailers are overcharging the consumer.

The Manager of Yanyom Water Company in Juba, Mister Deng Garang, says while the water company has not increased the price of water on whole sale, he is urging Central Equatoria authorities to control prices of consumer goods in the market.

[Deng Garang]: “The problem of the water is not that the price of water has increased, there is no increase in the price. We are still selling the carton for 15 pounds. Those who used to sell in the market at wholesale have been given some restrictions like giving them only 5 cartons so that they don’t go ahead and sell at 25 SDG and then sold to the citizen for 2 Sudanese pounds a bottle. If our vehicle delivers the water to your shop, restaurant or office, it should be at the same price we sell it here at the company. They will get receipts written 15 SDG per carton and 9 SDG profit per every carton. So we also ask the government to monitor the prices in the market because some people are overcharging.”

With the dry spell and high temperatures in Juba people drink a lot of bottled water because it is portable, clean and safe.