ISLAMABAD: Residents of Jacobabad have been found unwilling to pay for the sanitation and hygiene services despite being aware of the associated health risks, but are ready to pay for safe drinking water, revealed a new United Nations study released on Thursday.

The study conducted by the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) with funding from USAID through the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef), the ‘Willingness to Pay for Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (Wash) services’ is part of a project that seeks to mobilise communities to improve ‘Wash’ services in Jacobabad city.

It is a collaborative effort between UN-Habitat, Unicef, the Municipal Services Delivery Programme (MSDP), the government of Sindh and USAID.

The survey sought to determine the factors that influence people’s willingness to pay more for improved ‘Wash’ services in Jacobabad. It aims to support the government of Sindh in taking necessary steps to ensure the effective running of the MSDP by taking public’s opinion into account in devising necessary actions.

The study recommends that the base tariff for water charges should not be kept higher than Rs500, while overall charges should be divided into three specific quartiles reflecting people’s willingness to pay.

It proposes that along with public sector efforts to provide solid waste management services, a public-private partnership model should be developed to involve the community in the drive to improve lives in Jacobabad.

As the programme is aimed at strengthening and supporting the government of Sindh through MSDP, Khalid Hyder Shah, Programme Director, MSDP, commended the project’s efficacy. He said: “The MSDP programme aims to improve lives of the people of Sindh by developing and mending the water, sanitation, hygiene and solid waste management structure. I appreciate the efforts of USAID, Unicef, UN-Habitat and other partners in strengthening our structure and ensuring that people’s opinion is taken into account. The findings of this survey are critical to designing an effective and sustainable municipal services delivery mechanism.”

Dr Nargiza Khodjaeva, Chief of the Sindh Field Office, Unicef, emphasised the need to ensure risk management approaches such as Water Safety Planning. “Ensuring safety concerns will also enhance the willingness to pay for services.”

Jannat Durrani, Wash Officer, UN-Habitat, said that the survey established appropriate and acceptable user charges for improved water, sanitation and solid waste management services, and took into consideration the willingness and ability of people who benefit from these services to pay.

Published in Dawn, April 29th, 2016