Water and electricity bills will rise for expats in Abu Dhabi as utility companies will charge higher prices from January 1.
Expats will face higher water charges depending on whether their home is an apartment or villa.
Those living in apartments will pay £1.03 per 1,000 litres of water if they use more than 700 litres a day, with extra charges for homes using more than 700 litres daily.
Expats living in villas will pay the same charges but daily water usage is capped at 5,000 litres.
Electricity tariffs are also going up – to 3p per kilowatt hour of power consumed for customers using up to 20 kilowatt hours daily.
Abu Dhabi nationals receive water free of charge, but will start paying for the service but on a cheaper tariff scale from January.
“Reworking tariffs will help consumers understand the true value of water and electricity in our economy,” said Saif Al Qubaisi, acting director general of the Regulation and Supervision Bureau.
The International Monetary Fund criticised the Abu Dhabi government for subsidising the cost of water and power and claimed free water supplies led to waste and excessive use of a scarce commodity in the desert kingdom.
The subsidy costs the Abu Dhabi government £8.2 billion a year – equivalent to almost a fifth of the nation’s budget.
Sunshine TV comedy
A comic take on expat life on the Spanish sunshine island of Gran Canaria is due to be aired on BBC TV as a new comedy series.
Filming for ‘Woody’ is underway and the show is expected go on air early next year.
The program stars Kayvan Novak as an undercover reporter on the run after clashing with a corrupt editor in London.
Novak seeks help to clear his name from old hack Brutus, played by Bradley Walsh, who is less than pleased to see him.
The six episodes tell the story of the scrapes they get into with the British authorities trying to track down Novak and the antics they get involved in with expats as a result of telling lies about their pasts.
Much of the show is filmed in Puerto de Mogán, although many scenes will take place around the island, including the beaches of Puerto Rico and Amadores.
Producer and writer Neil Webster said: “The show is a ‘massive, silly, sunshine show for the BBC One. The script involves talking parrots, a hypnotist convention and murder of Spanish singing superstar Elton Juan.”
