Kibkom North Cyprus Forum

I posted this on another thread but it didn't get any response. Maybe folks thought I was kidding, but today my wife went into the Karsiyaka office and was told that water has gone up from 3TL per tonne to 6TL per tonne from today, I assume. Please let me know if anyone is told anything different to this. I remember reading recently that the price was to be capped at 5TL per tonne by the govt. so it's quite a surprise to see that Sayin Namsoy has set the rate so high.

Frontalman
Have you seen the cost of new Merc's and BMW's, Plus the printing of the Namsoy News paper it's all got to be paid for!

No not kidding, my husband paid 6tl per ton today.

Who can live without water?
Sounds like someone's got everyone by the Short & Curlies
Navek

To be honest we don't mind paying our share towards all the work that's been done with the pipeline and infrastructure and all, but it's going to hit some people very hard, I suspect. Is it true that well use has been banned under the new deal with Turkey, all those with wells must cap them, and will be forced to use the new water? I read this a while ago and was quite surprised. Can anyone confirm if there is any truth in it.

Hi Mark,
Those that are living in and around Esentepe are being quoted ridiculous amounts of money for meters and supply of said water, Methinks someone is getting very rich with this lottery!
Hope you and Sally are both well
Nick and Lorna now Portugal

Ref msg 6 - those living in Esentepe village are all right as they are on the system. Those outside are being quoted 4100 YTL + for meter and infrastructure costs, plus KDA, before a drop of water enters the meter. The Mayor has also threatened to prosecute (does he have that legal power to do so) anybody using any water, not from him (extortion and /or discrimination against Article 8 of the TRNC Constitution)? We await the Interior Minister's response having advised him of the situation here.

If you don't like it you know what to do!

And the TRNC government wonder why so many Expats of all nationalities are leaving they just can not see past the next rip off. Very very short sighted people.

Msg 8, please enlighten us with your great wisdom!

I think Silverfox is leaving us soon and is implying that the alternative to complaining is to follow his lead, n'est-ce pas?

frontalman, thanks. I wish he/she had already left. Here is my home, warts and all. However, that doesn't mean I have to lie on my back and take Cypriot Sierra 1 Hotel Tango without letting others know the injustices going on here where expats are viewed as 'fair game cash cows.' I complain to the relevant authority but use this forum to let others know what is happening. They can then decide what to do, or not!

Good for you! That means there's at least two of us to fight off the Russians

Paying for water is paying for water, but what I don;t like doing is paying for air. Our 5 day turn on was this morning, went out to do a bit of garden watering and air 60%, water 40%. The meter outside the gate was going like the clappers and obviously that determines what our bill will be. Its been like this for over a month now. (Alsancak)

just paid 350 Lira in Esentepe for 10 tons OUCH

We are lucky we live in Lapta Baspinar and have had quality water 24/7 for 8 years, so I don't see the 6 TL per ton as expensive. However I do have sympathy with people who are paying for air. and being cut off for days on end.

But with regards to paying 4.000 TL for a new connection and meter this is about right ours cost 2,300 TL 8 years ago so with exchange rate and inflation still reasonable. In the UK of course your house comes with all the services normally. But that is built into the price. I remember when they introduced gas into our area in the UK in the 70s. The price per house was very expensive for connection and meter.

If you compare 1 ton of water at TL to 500 ml of Efes in a bar at around 6/7 TL Still great value.

Briannu

This was put on the board on 2nd September, so why 350TL for 10 tonne I have no idea

The Mayor of Esentepe Municipality told me on a face-to-face meeting the water prices would be:

• Water costs, per tonne, have been revised to:
o 0-5 tonnes: 3.5 YTL
o 5-10 tonnes: 4.5 YTL
o 5-25 tonnes: 7 YTL
o 25+ tonnes: 4.5 YTL per tonne extra
o He did not give a minimum resupply cost.

lee666, it was my original post. However, I made a typo in that the 3rd line should have read: !0-25 tonnes. I did publish a later amendment once I realised the error had been made and published. Whatever, it would the Mayor of Esentepe Municipality does what he wants with impunity and expats have no way of challenging his decisions. He does have a nice new Merc though!!

Johhny Lee, how much does a litre of H2O cast in a bar? You are comparing apples and pears by quoting Efes beer. If the 4000+ YTL charge applied to all new users, country-wide, fair enough. But it does not and that's the nub of the issue. A Cypriot neighbour in the same housing complex has been quoted 1000 YTL. Why can she get the package 4 times cheaper than expats? Article 8 of the TRNC Constitution makes discrimination unlawful.

My Efes quote was meant to be jovial. But in actual fact I suppose it is relevant. It still makes a ton of water seem like good value. With regards to the locals paying less than us if that is true then of course wrong.

But I would be happy to pay 4 K TL for a water connection if at the moment I was Tanker reliant. We lived for 15 months without electricity and it made us realise what fantastic value mains electricity really is. So I tend to view mains water in the same light.

Also if you take into account what a precious commodity water is here , then compare it to the amount of surplus water in the UK and work out the yearly cost in comparison we are still well in.

JL, comparison to the UK is irrelevant. Why not compare H2O costs here to Norway? My original point still stands - 'apple and pears' are not a fair comparator! The price of H2O is one issue. The infrastructure differential between various municipalities and races is another. I pay the same price for fuel as Cypriots, why should a vital, basic need be different? Everybody living here should pay the same price for the commodity and the infrastructure, no matter where you live, what nationality you are, age/gender et al. You obviously disagree and, fine, that's your view. I, however, do not share it and I suspect neither do many others who are being fleeced by a corrupt or indifferent system.

hi Lee 666

Should have said our Villa in Esentepe isn't on mains water and so we gave to rely on private wells. Cant wait to be put on mains which hopefully wont be long. 6tl a ton looks a absolute bargain after constantly paying 35 tl throughout this summer. Last summer was 12tl a ton so it has gone up enormously.

Briannu

Ah right, understand that now my friend.

Briannu, presumably that was for a 10 ton tanker????

Yes that's right tanker delivery.

Had a letter from Mayor of Alsancak couple of days ago. Alsancak water

0 - 10 m3 4.00tl
11 - 20 m3 4.50tl
21 tonne and above 5.00tl


There is a bit at the bottom which I think says something like 4tl per tonne thereafter. Or it could say 4.00tl is the minimum!!!

Above plus Belediye Tax, Government Tax, rent on the meter, plus a couple of other small charges, plus KDV is what we can expect from now on.

I checked my meter a couple of days ago, the first press of the button said ''error'', I pressed it again, it told me I had 6.5 tonnes left.
Checked it last night, as the pressure was low. Still read ''error'', then 6.5 tonnes. I have no water in my tanks!!!!!.
My neighbour has water. Beli. closed until Monday,
Have any of you experienced this.?

Sophie, the bit at the bottom is the 'Business Tarif' - all water supplied to workplaces will be charged at 4TL per ton.

Flowerfairy,

In the handbook the comment for the error display is:-

"ERROR: Smart card read by the meter do not match. Card’s error coefficient is decreased by 1. If this error
happens 4 times card is blocked and can not be used again."

regards Mike

Unfortunately I don't have a handbook, but I didn't need to put my card in to read how much water I have left. I just press the button.
Thank you for taking the time to reply though.

I think your missing the point.

It looks as your meter has been blocked. This could happen if the wrong card has been used.

regards Mike

Bowman wrote:I think your missing the point.

It looks as your meter has been blocked. This could happen if the wrong card has been used.

regards Mike

The instructions that you quote appear to say "... If this error happens 4 times card is blocked..." - not 'the meter is blocked'.

She isn't trying to use a card, correct or otherwise, blocked or not!

You may be right, of course, and the meter may be 'blocked', but not for the reason given in the instructions, as far as I can see

The last time I inserted the card, it allowed me to put 10 tonne on the meter. I haven't inserted it since, yet I have used 4 tonne so far, so I don't think it is a card problem, unless I'm being a bit ''blonde''.

In our small development the smart meters show errors frequently.

Sometimes putting the card in will clear the error and allow water in. It's worth a try as it's Bayram next week so I doubt they'll be open on Monday.

We've found that certain errors still allow water in but you need to put the card in.

Failing that someone from Belediye will have to come and clear it.

Thank you C O A, Tried the card, didn't work,
Guess I'll have to wait until after Bayram to get it sorted then.

I hope they are quicker than Esentepe Belediye, took them 6 weeks and numerous visits before they came out to our neighbour's. It was only fixed when their cleaner, a local, reported it then they came out same day

Esentepe Belediyesi terrible at coming to sort meters (or anything else for that matter). You may as well talk to the wall in there rather than the staff (I am being polite) who say "yes reported, will be there tomorrow". Of course there is no tomorrow. I finally managed to get it through to them on Thursday when the water was on in the street but, as for the past six weeks barely a drop passing through the meter. Luckily one of the employees who does deal with meters walked in as I was there. I managed to persuade him to come with me straight away. No way was I leaving without him. He followed me to my villa. Low and behold disconnected the inlet side which was blocked solid with grit, sand etc. which I have kept telling them , two minuets work and the meter was gushing water through. Did my neighbours at the same time which was also blocked. What I am saying is that a lot of the issues with the meters are because of these blockages. One day they may decide to carry out periodic maintenance. Oops,there goes another flying pig.

Dropshort wrote:Esentepe Belediyesi terrible at coming to sort meters (or anything else for that matter). You may as well talk to the wall in there rather than the staff (I am being polite) who say "yes reported, will be there tomorrow". Of course there is no tomorrow. I finally managed to get it through to them on Thursday when the water was on in the street but, as for the past six weeks barely a drop passing through the meter. Luckily one of the employees who does deal with meters walked in as I was there. I managed to persuade him to come with me straight away. No way was I leaving without him. He followed me to my villa. Low and behold disconnected the inlet side which was blocked solid with grit, sand etc. which I have kept telling them , two minuets work and the meter was gushing water through. Did my neighbours at the same time which was also blocked. What I am saying is that a lot of the issues with the meters are because of these blockages. One day they may decide to carry out periodic maintenance. Oops,there goes another flying pig.

That's the trouble, the water supply is full of sand/grit and it quickly blocks the filter on the inlet side of the meter eventually blocking it completely. On the new smart meters it's just a plastic insert that can be removed.... nudge nudge wink wink but don't ask the Belidiye to remove it as they say it can damage the meter. I had the same problem on the old meter, different design of filter but same effect, removed it and no more blockages, and oh, no long term damage to the meter either.

Yes Guru, I know exactly what you mean. With the old mechanical meters, although illegal, it was possible to do this without adversely affecting the meter. With the smart meters I believe removing the blue plastic insert shuts it down and requires the Belediyesi technician with his machine to reset it? Stand corrected if this is not the case?

Removing the blue plastic filter insert doesn't shut it down but you are correct if you remove the blue tamper proof clip that covers the union nut then it would. Luckily I was present when they came to fit our meter a couple of years or so ago and I simply asked the guy fitting it to remove the filter, which he did, but yes, 'officially', if you go up to the council office and ask them to remove it they'll say no. Maybe drop the fitter a few TL when he comes to reset it......you never know.

Dropshort you have a PM

guru. Thanks and understood.

Cautionary note – Water card. If and when you go to get your card ensure that the person who issues you with your card is not distracted in any way before giving it to you to get the water you have paid for! We got our card when we were last here (June) and decided not to use it until we returned in September as we had enough to get us through the last 2 days of our last holiday. We had arranged with a friend, who was here before us - to just push the black button on Thursday ensuring we would have our 3 ton of water. (Meter says No!) This morning we put our card into the water meter expecting our 7 tonne to be added to the clock. (Meter said No!) reading on meter 0.00. We go with our house deeds; receipt for the water we thought had been added to our card last time, to Karşıyaka Beldeiyesi, explained the situation with all our documents (Computer says No!) "This is not your name lady says" (Soner Whoever). You have to go to Lapta Beldeiyesi to get it fixed. On arrival in Lapta Beledyesi we are informed “it is not your name and you do not live in Lapta". (Computer says No!) it turns out our card matches Soner Whoever in Lapta – not us in Sadrazamkoy! A few clicks on the computer after authorisation from a senior manager, our card is now in my name at Sadrazamkoy and assigned to our meter. Put our card in meter on our return to Sadrazam and we finally get a reading and a small amount trickles into our tank – then stops!! Looking forward to Monday when our supply will be switched on and nornal service will be resumed. (Happy Days!!!).