政府接受商务委员会建议，未来10年对蒂阿基瓦伊实施更严格的绩效监管

惠灵顿讯

惠灵顿居民今后将能够通过独立监管机制，更清楚地了解蒂阿基瓦伊（Tiaki Wai）如何使用水务资金。新西兰政府决定加强对该地区水务服务商的监管。

地方政府部长西蒙·瓦茨（Simon Watts）和商务及消费者事务部长卡梅伦·布鲁尔（Cameron Brewer）表示，政府已接受新西兰商务委员会（Commerce Commission）的建议，未来10年对蒂阿基瓦伊实施绩效要求监管。

这是新西兰首次将这一监管工具用于水务服务提供商。

瓦茨部长表示，惠灵顿居民正在承担越来越高的水务费用，因此有权知道这些资金究竟带来了什么。

他说，多年来地方政府在水务基础设施上的投资不足，使惠灵顿地区的供水、污水和雨水网络逐渐老化，如今大规模维修和升级的成本正在直接转嫁给家庭。

“鉴于所需投资的规模，强有力的问责机制至关重要。”

瓦茨表示，政府将密切监督蒂阿基瓦伊的表现。如果未来没有出现明确且持续的改善，他将认真考虑进一步干预。

他指出，这项监管措施的目标之一，是恢复公众对水务收费的信心，确保居民缴纳的费用真正用于建设和改善他们所需要的基础设施和服务。

布鲁尔部长表示，在政府的“做好地方水务”（Local Water Done Well）改革框架下，水务收费必须专门用于水务服务。

他说，过去水务成本长期隐藏在地方政府税率（rates）之中，而供水和污水网络却不断老化，这也是惠灵顿今天面临严重水务基础设施问题的部分原因。

“仅仅提高透明度是不够的。作为该行业的独立监管机构，商务委员会必须拥有更多权力，而不仅仅是公布相关信息。”

根据新的监管机制，商务委员会可以对蒂阿基瓦伊提出具有约束力的绩效要求，明确规定其必须完成哪些工作以及完成期限。

政府认为，这将有助于确保重大水务投资得到合理排序、高效实施，并最终实现居民为之付费的实际成果。

布鲁尔表示，商务委员会已经表示，其初步监管重点将放在蒂阿基瓦伊此前已经承诺实施的一批关键高风险项目上。

蒂阿基瓦伊预计未来30年需要进行约250亿新西兰元的水务基础设施投资。

布鲁尔表示，如此庞大的投资规模意味着公众有权要求严格的资金监督。

“这是别人的钱——而且是25 billion dollars（250亿新西兰元）规模的钱。惠灵顿居民有权期待这些资金真正投入管道、污水处理设施以及其他必要的水务基础设施。”

他表示，新的监管制度将赋予独立监管机构真正具有约束力的监管权力，而不仅仅是要求水务公司进行信息披露。

“这是有实际执行力的问责机制，是本届政府‘解决基本问题、建设未来’计划的一部分，确保新西兰人缴纳的钱能够换来他们被承诺的服务。”

来源：新西兰政府

Tiaki Wai spending to be independently scrutinised

Wellingtonians will get independent scrutiny of how Tiaki Wai spends their money, with the Government imposing tougher regulation on the region’s water services provider, Local Government Minister Simon Watts and Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Cameron Brewer say.

The Government has accepted a Commerce Commission recommendation to impose performance requirement regulation on Tiaki Wai for the next 10 years – the first time this tool has been used on a water services provider in New Zealand.

“Wellingtonians are being asked to pay a great deal, and they are entitled to know exactly what they are getting for it,” Mr Watts says.

“Decades of local underinvestment have left this region with water networks that are not up to standard, and the cost of fixing them is now landing directly on households. Given the scale of investment required, strong accountability is essential.

“The Government will be watching Tiaki Wai very closely. I have a low threshold for considering further intervention if we do not see clear and sustained performance improvements,” Mr Watts says.

“This is about restoring confidence that the money being collected is delivering the infrastructure and services people have been promised.”

“Under Local Water Done Well, water charges are ring-fenced. For years the cost of water services was buried inside rates while networks were left to deteriorate – which is partly why Wellington ended up here,” Mr Brewer says.

“Transparency on its own is not enough. The Commission – which is the sector’s independent regulator – needs to be able to do more than publish information, and that’s why we are giving it the power to set binding requirements on Tiaki Wai’s performance.

“That means the Commission can specify what Tiaki Wai must deliver and by when, giving greater assurance that major investments are prioritised appropriately, delivered effectively, and are achieving the outcomes Wellingtonians are paying for.”

“The Commission has signalled its initial focus will be the critical, high-risk projects Tiaki Wai has already committed to,” Mr Brewer says.

“Tiaki Wai faces an estimated $25 billion of investment over the next 30 years. That is an enormous amount of other people’s money, and Wellingtonians are entitled to expect it goes into pipes and treatment plants.

“This is hard accountability, enforced by an independent regulator with real teeth. It is part of this Government’s plan to fix the basics and build the future, so the money Kiwis hand over buys them the services they were promised,” Mr Brewer says.