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“Still, we lose millions of cubic meters of water each year due to the tragic state of the pipes, which is a direct consequence of Fidesz’s demagoguery,” he said on social media, referring to the previous government’s utility price policy.
The mayor noted that as municipalities were responsible for the water supply and called on the government to ensure that municipalities could also set the local water rate.
Karácsony said it was “scandalous” that “while some fill up their pools with water supplied at a controlled price others will not get a drop of drinking water in a heat of 40 C.”
Out of a water rate “not raised for 13 years” the system cannot be refurbished, he said.
He suggested, however, that the utility price policy should be made more fair, “providing free drinking water to everybody but imposing a surcharge on swimming pools.”
The local chapter of opposition Fidesz, called on the mayor to drop his plans of a water rate hike as “they won’t serve the interest of residents”.
“Karácsony seeks to eliminate the public utility price cap program introduced by the previous, Fidesz-led government. He calls it demagoguery, but in fact the patriotic government’s public utility price policy protected families and kept their utility expenses at an affordable level,” Fidesz said in its statement.
Fidesz’s Budapest chapter will support “all decisions that benefit locals and will oppose any others that do not”, the statement said.
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