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| Monday, 7 July 2003 |
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Thirty per cent households still using well water for drinking "Towns East and the Towns South of the Greater Colombo water supply projects certainly be rated at the top 5% of similar projects in the developing world. Based on the evaluation, technically and economically these two projects can be classified as excellent", said Prof. A. K. Biswas of the Third World Centre for Water Management, Mexico at the presentation of the Report of the Socio-Economic Impact Construction of Water Supply Systems in the East and South of Colombo held at Hotel Galadari recently. The National Water Supply and Drainage Board (NWS and DB) under the guidance of the Ministry of Housing and plantation Infrastructure has completed the construction work of water supply system of Towns East and Towns South of Greater Colombo with the financial assistance from the Japan Bank of International Co-operation (JBIC). The social and economic impacts of the two projects were assessed by a detailed survey of 600 households in nine townships, 300 households for the towns east of Colombo and another 300 households for the towns south. These 600 households were equally divided between domestic and low-income households. In addition, 35 commercial enterprises were selected in five main towns for the survey. The socio-economic survey indicated some of the following facts: * As soon as water supply was available, 51.2% of the households surveyed promptly requested and obtained water connections. * Water use patterns have changed significantly after the two projects were completed. Prior to the two projects, nearly two thirds of the households used wells located within their properties. Currently 81.6% of these families have retained the wells. * Unprotected wells outside the households have already disappeared completely. * Surprisingly, an unusually high number of households (30%) are still using well water for drinking. * Some 55% of households consider piped water to be good, and only 2% consider it to be bad. The rest have a neutral attitude. * Women from all social classes felt that the two water supply projects have made very significant positive differences in their lives. However, the extent and type of perceived benefits varied from one social class to another. * The main environmental impact of the two projects is the absence of facilities to collect, treat and dispose of waste water. * Independent analyses of well water carried out for the Centre indicates that well water is seriously contaminated in those households which perceive it to be of better quality than piped water. In contrast, piped water is of good quality. * No discrimination against the poor households could be found in terms of delays in providing water connections in spite of the claim by JOVC (through JBIC) that such discriminations are common. Following are some facts that relate to the economic sustainability aspects of the project: * In 1995, per capita daily water consumption in Colombo was 200 litres. This has now been reduced to 140 litres. It is likely they will decline further in the future. * The average monthly water bill per household in Greater Colombo in 2001 was Rs. 235.17 (national average is Rs. 178.95) * In 1991, 60% of all water produced was sold to the domestic consumers, which accounted for about 36% of the revenue of the Board from such sales. In contrast, commercial units consumed 9.15% of water sold, but contributed to 21.05% of the revenue. * The Board had an exemplary bill collection record for any developing country. The bill collection efficiently varied from an incredibly high of 99% to a low of 89% during the 1993-2001 period. * Private sector can become an important ally to improve further the efficiency of the Board by more outsourcing. Among potential areas for private sector outsourcing are meter reading, bill preparation and collection, leakage detection and repair, provision of new water connections, and vehicle maintenance and fleet management. It is likely that during the next 20 years, water management practices are likely to change more than in the past 2000 years. Thus, capacity building is a very important requirement for the Board for the next 20 years and beyond. General Manager of NWS and DB W. M. Wickramage, made the introduction speech of this seminar which was chaired by W. D. Ailapperuma, Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Plantation Infrastructure. |
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