Recently, a public hearing on water prices was held in Guangzhou, where a restaurant operator’s support for the increase in residential water prices sparked dissatisfaction among the public, leading to a flood of negative reviews and ultimately forcing the closure of the shop.
On May 9, a public hearing on the reform of water prices in the central urban area of Guangzhou was convened. Two sets of proposals for adjusting water prices were presented for public hearing, with both proposals setting the average water supply price at 3.4 yuan per cubic meter (including taxes), differing in the extent to which residents and non-residents share the burden of the price increase.
There were a total of 17 participants at the public hearing, with 9 supporting proposal one, 7 supporting proposal two, and 1 in favor of water price reform but suggesting that both proposal one and proposal two had larger increases and needed further modifications.
According to Jiupai News, one of the representatives at the public hearing, Huang Zhihui, who owns a restaurant in Liwan District of Guangzhou, stated, “Water and electricity are important operating expenses, with monthly water expenses ranging from 700 to 800 yuan. The increase in water prices should not be too high, with the unit price ideally kept within 4 yuan, so as not to burden businesses too much.”
The public in Guangzhou expressed dissatisfaction with the increase in water prices, and due to Huang Zhihui’s perceived support for the rise in residential water prices, netizens found his restaurant and flooded various platforms with negative reviews to express their discontent.
On the map application Gaode, the restaurant received numerous negative reviews within a day.
On the afternoon of May 13, information about Huang Zhihui’s restaurant was taken down from platforms such as Meituan and Dianping.
The increase in water prices by the Guangzhou authorities has led to a significant number of people expressing dissatisfaction.
Netizens have raised various concerns, such as questioning the salaries of employees of the water company, criticizing the public hearing for being merely a formality, raising concerns about the lack of corresponding increase in wages with the rising costs of utilities, demanding that representatives truly reflect the interests of the citizens, and even suggesting legal action against the government for compensating for the closure of businesses due to the unified price increases.