KARACHI, Feb 24: World Bank's country-director John Wall here on Thursday indicated that the bank's water and sanitation programme for South Asia can become a potential partner in helping finance and implementing programmes
in water
and sanitation sectors in major cities of the country.
He was speaking at a two-day workshop on "management of water supply and sanitation services in large cities." "If the type of reform options that have been discussed and proposed in the workshop under the principles of political and operational (accountability) are indeed the way forward for your province, city and tehsil, then the World Bank can become a potential partner in helping finance and implementing the programmes," he said.
Sindh chief minister Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim who was scheduled to chair the concluding session of the workshop, could not make it owing to his pre-occupation.
Summing up the workshop, Mr Wall said the workshop's overall discussions have provided two simple, but important principles--political and operational accountability (who owns the assets and who operates the assets), the key has been to ensure that in designing the rules of political and operational accountability for water board, separation of policy-maker, provider and regulator, are to be implemented.
He said that though stakes are high in successfully designing and implementing the reforms in the service delivery system, it will have to be ensured that implementation of the devolution process achieves its desired goal which is aimed at improving the well-being of the citizens and in this regard, he hoped that the World Bank's water and sanitation programme for South Asia will provide its support to the process.
The workshop was organized jointly by the federal ministry of environment, Sindh local government department, city government and the World Bank's Water and Sanitation Programme for South Asia (WSP-SA).
The WSP (SA), he added, is well-placed to continue to provide access to the global experience and expertise in designing a way forward in the local context. He said the task of ensuring 24 hours water supply which is a must for both public health and financial reasons, requires institutional change.
Referring to the proposals of the participants, he said since the workshop had recognised that institutional changes are essential for making services work for the poor, it has to be ensured that institutional options, such as corporatizing, are consistent with the rules of devolution though it is not an easy task. However, the suggestions of different approaches to ownership of the assets -- a combination of provincial and city level ownership -- are important practical solutions to the practical issues, he opined.
WSP's regional team leader Ms Cathy Revels highlighted the importance of regulatory bodies in utility services organisations, saying that public sector must have some autonomy and they must be accountable to their consumers.
She said it that had to be some regulatory body in public sector organisations for monitoring their performance as well to ensure whether the grievances of consumers or clients are being heard and redressed.
At the outset, she said that the WAS (SA) considered the workshop as successful whose objective was to broaden debate on delivery of water system in the context of institutional changes.
She emphasised the need for taking concrete steps for implementing reformation agenda for the KWSB and other major cities of the country. She thanked the federal ministry of environment, Sindh local government department and the CDGK for oraganising the workshop.
In his concluding remarks, KWSB's managing director Brig Iftikhar Haider said that the KWSB had already chalked out a number of plans for its corporatization. He said under the plans, he said, he intends to divide the KWSB's offices into six or eight zones, each covering three or four towns, by ensuring minimum possible interline changes.
The KWSB also plans to facilitate consumers by opening consumer service offices in different parts of the city so that the people can approach any nearest office for resolution of their problems.
He also thanked the World Bank and WSP(SA) for enlightening the officials of the KWSB, Nazims of various towns of the country and government officials about their vast global experience in the field of water and sanitation.
The two-day workshop was addressed, among others, by nazims of various towns of major cities of the country, officials of different water and sanitation services organizations.
