Africa: G8 water and sanitation initiative lacks concrete action

The launch of the G8-Africa Water Partnership promised to be a centrepiece of the G8 Summit in L’Aquila but it contained no specific actions and no extra finance, the End Water Poverty campaign said. “A G8 progress report outlining actions on water since the launch of the G8 Evian Water Plan in 2003 shows that the bulk of reported funding increases have gone to Iraq and other regions of political and economic interest rather those of greatest need”.

The official statement, released on 10 July 2009, explained that the Partnership between the G8 and the African Ministers’ Council on Water (AMCOW), under the leadership of the African Union (AU), would “continue working, on the basis of commitments previously undertaken, which include: make water-related MDGs a top development priority; implement national water and sanitation plans; implement financial plans for mobilizing resources to the sector, including allocating resources within national budgets; enhance their leading role in guiding development assistance through donor coordination processes and the definition of water and sanitation investment plans in line with the Paris declaration on Aid Effectiveness and the Accra Agenda for Action”.

“To support the implementation of the African commitments, G8 countries will: assist the building of capacity in African countries to develop and implement national water and sanitation plans; improve coordination within multi-donor platforms to promote aid effectiveness; align assistance to better reflect national priorities; improve bilateral and multilateral contributions to financial mechanisms aimed at mobilizing investment; assist the AU Commission, AMCOW and Regional Economic Communities in response to the African demands for institutional support”.

A “strengthened Africa-G8 Partnership on Water and Sanitation” would be presented by the end of 2009. “The Africa Water Week due to take place in November [2009] in South Africa might provide an opportunity for tangible progress towards our common goal of meeting our water and sanitation challenges”.

South Africa: Water Affairs DG suspended

Water Affairs director-general Pam Yako has been put on “special leave” pending the outcome of an investigation into alleged financial irregularities within the department. “No charges have been levelled against Ms Yako or any official of the department and, until informed otherwise by the outcome of the investigation, the director-general remains innocent,” Water Affairs Minister Buyelwa Sonjica said.

A statement issued by the ministry said Sonjica had decided to investigate the department’s finances “following allegations of financial irregularities and information alleging maladministration and mismanagement”.

Sonjica’s statement offered no details about the alleged irregularities. Spokesperson Sputnik Ratau said: “It’s alleged that there could be maladministration and some processes could have been undermined in terms of the procurement system.”

The transition to the new administration appears to have exposed tensions between ministers and directors-general in several departments, despite earlier assurances by President Jacob Zuma when he told top public servants their jobs would be safe. Yako is the fourth top public servant to be suspended in as many weeks.

Ms Yako was appointed Director-General of the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry on 1 March 2008.

Pam Yako and H.R.H. the Prince of Orange, The Netherlands, celebrating Global Handwashing Day in October 2008

Source: SAPA / News24.comm 21 Jul 2009 ; Caiphus Kgosana , IOL, 22 Jul 2009 ; DWAF, 29 Feb 2008

Swaziland: just add water and stir – multiple use water services in Maplotini

The Swaziland Water and Agricultural Development Enterprise (SWADE), a government parastatal, has injected new life into the community of Maplotini using an integrated water resources management approach.

When SWADE assessed the area in 2006, it found much of the land was being used to graze cattle, with some sugar cane farming, and small plots of vegetables for household consumption. Livestock and people alike suffered from a shortage of water. Sanitation facilities were also absent. “We had to wait for sunset to relieve ourselves in the nearest bush,” remarked one woman resident.

Ironically, plentiful water is available. When the Pongolapoort dam was completed just across the border in 1973, South Africa agreed to supply a specified amount of water back to the area in compensation for flooding 1,500 hectares on the Swazi side.

So in 2006, infrastructure was already in place to irrigate 530 hectares around Maplotini – to expand sugar cane production and potentially valuable vegetable gardening. It was not being used to its full potential due to internal conflicts in the community and a lack of skills and vision. Water for household use was directly dependent on the irrigation system, meaning when that supply was suspended, the taps ran dry.

SWADE’s approach involves building up local leadership and accountability and instilling an entrepreneurial mindset that allows communities to establish and maintain agricultural businesses. The parastatal’s training programmes rely on story-telling, illustrations, experiential learning and demonstrations in order to overcome typically low levels of literacy. Its philosophy is one of integrated water resource management.

Mbabazeni Matsenjwa, chair of the Maplotini Water Project [official name: Capacity Building for Lavumisa Irrigation Development Project], says SWADE partnered with the community to install water taps and build proper pit latrines. Community members dug the pits and SWADE provided the materials for the latrines.

SWADE also distributed 1,000-litre tanks to each home and connected them to a supply from Swaziland Water Services Corporation. The safe drinking water is also used to water backyard gardens. This component of the project in Maplotini cost $120,000, sourced from the Southern African Development Community, the Danish International Development Agency and the Swazi government.

“We had to drive donkey carts to Lavumisa town (five km away). Or hire a van to town at 50 rand (just over $6) to carry 210 litres. The town board charged us 60 cents per 25 litres,” explains Matsenjwa.

With the advent of the scheme, project manager Jerry Nxumalo says the community pays for the maintenance of the domestic water infrastructure – and for the water itself. Maplotini has a water committee and a small team to take care of the system.

A communal garden project has also been established, to teach and support the community to practice sustainable agriculture. The garden produces various vegetables, like spinach, beetroot, carrots and onions.

Ten hectares of land were secured from the sugar cane farmers, and SWADE’ helped to set up pipes for irrigation, fencing, and water taps to plant six hectares of vegetables. The communal garden project currently has seventy-two members, each of whom has been allocated a 25 by 50 metre plot.

The gardening project is also improving lives of people living with HIV/AIDS. A Lavumisa-based NGO, Mothers for Life, was given a hectare to grow vegetables for those who are destitute and chronically sick. Good nutrition is important for patients on anti-retroviral therapy.

In addition to the community garden, and the supply of drinking water and improved sanitation, the area planted with sugar cane was increased from 180 to 234 hectares and 91 hectares were planted with other crops by the Maplotini Cooperative. The Cooperative also planted 40 hectares with vegetables for sale in local markets.

Few of the homesteads in the area require donated food and SWADE expects the community has been set on a path of sustainable income generation.

Reviewing three years of effort, DANIDA programme officer Tania Diederiks said, “SWADE cannot remain here forever. They have assisted you to get onto your (own) feet. Now you know what you want and how to get it after being empowered, so you should go for it with all your abilities.”

For more information on the Capacity Building for Lavumisa Irrigation Development Project go to web sites of SWADE and SADCWATER.

For more information on multiple use water services go here.

Source: Phathizwe-Chief Zulu, IPS, 05 Jul 2009

Mozambique: positive results claimed for delegated water management

The Mozambican Minister of Public Works, Felicio Zacarias, said on 29 June 2009 that the reforms in water supply that began in 1995, and which have led to delegating the management of urban water supply in major cities to private consortia, have produced positive results. Investments in water systems have lead to an increase in the number of people they serve, and in the number of hours of supply per day. Zacarias was speaking in Maputo during the launch of a “Case Study on Delegated Management of Water Supply in Mozambique“, sponsored by the World Bank.

The average period of supply in the area under delegated management is 18 hours a day, and in some cases it reaches 24 hours a day. In the urban areas covered by delegated management, 54 per cent of the population now has access to clean drinking water.

Many challenges still remain, including the need to ensure improved levels of satisfaction among consumers and expanding water systems to peri-urban areas.

The World Bank study covers the period 2000-2007. Initial setbacks led to the main partner in the “Aguas de Mocambique” (Waters of Mozambique) consortium, the French company SAUR, to drop out. By 2007, the initial problems had been solved. The success of the reforms is attributed to the government’s commitment, the creation of a separate public body that owns the main water assets (FIPAG), and of a non-political regulatory body, and the continuity and professionalism of leading figures in the sector, despite the change in management.

The study recommends that the government provide reliable and audited data to all potential private operators in the water sector so that they can make a realistic assessment of the financial risks. It urges that local private operators should be promoted, in order to minimize the costs of delegated management and ensure its long term sustainability.

Read the World Bank case study here.

Source: Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique / allAfrica.com, 30 Jun 2009

Angola: country to have institute for water resources

Angola will have a national institute of water resources and an office of hydro-graphic basins for Zambeze region, the secretary of State for water affairs, Luis Filipe da Silva, announced on 6 July 2009. The two institutions will serve as a tool for the rational and sustainable management of waters.

Angola aims to assure the supply of water in 80 per cent of the urban and rural areas by 2012. Foreign funding was being sought for projects in Kwanza-Sul province.

Source: Angola Press Agency / allAfrica.com, 06 Jul 2009

Nigeria, Katsina: local government areas get sanitation depts

A new department of water and sanitation is to be created in all the thirty four local government areas of Katsina state to coordinate environmental sanitation, diseases control, water supply, immunization and health education activities in rural areas.

Governor Ibrahim Shema, who approved the establishment of the departments in response to a legislation passed by the state’s House of Assembly to that effect, directed the local government service commission to appoint environmental health officers.

The President of the Environmental Health Workers Association, Sanitarian Sani Sama’ila, said the establishment should not be seen as undermining primary health care services but rather as speeding up health care delivery and separating curative and preventable functions in health delivery.

Source: Lawal Ibrahim, Daily Trust, allAfrica.com, 24 June 2009

Uganda, Karamoja: Minister accuses officials of mismanaging US$ 19 million water fund

Leaders in the Karamoja sub-region have been condemned for misusing sh40b [US$ 19.3 million] for water development. The State minister for water, Jenipher Namuyangu, said there was little to show on the ground that the money disbursed over the last five years was put to proper use.

Namuyangu explained that the Government and development partners disburse about sh8b to develop water sources for the five Karamoja districts annually.

Citing a case in Abim, where a bore-hole was repaired at sh10m, Namayunga noted that local government leaders were inflating prices and not giving people value for money. “Instead of spending that amount to repair a bore-hole, why not drill a new one?” she asked. Namuyangu also pointed out that the officials had been claiming that they had drilled bore-holes in the jungles, but none was found.

She said the Government had allocated another sh6b for water development in Karamoja, adding that the implementation of the projects would be keenly monitored. “We urge the communities also to help us track the resources,” Namuyangu appealed. She tasked the water officials to display reports on what they have achieved at the sub-county notice boards.

Source: Olandason Wanyama, New Vision / allAfrica.com, 28 Jun 2009

South Africa: Cape Residents, Unions Slam City Water Device

Concerns are being raised about the ongoing roll-out of tens of thousands of water management devices in Cape Town, which the City says conserves water, but which some residents complain are often faulty and lead to their water supply being cut off.

Almost 31,000 devices – which critics argue are targeted mainly at poor households – have been installed across the metro to date, in addition to 32,496 households who are currently on the trickle system, according to information provided by the City.

The water management device allows a free flow of water until a daily allocation out of the monthly 6,000 free kilolitres is reached, after which water cuts off unless more has been purchased. The trickle system releases the 6,000 free kilolitres through a restricted flow over the period of a month.

The City has denied the device is being installed only in poor households as a way of controlling municipal arrears.

In Static Heights, a 236 house housing project in Kewtown, Athlone, one woman, complained: “I can’t even do the washing or cooking because the water cuts off before we have used the prescribed amount.” She said their worst experience had been going without water for three consecutive days. She said her grandmother was a cancer patient and sometimes there was not enough water to bath her.

In February 2009, Parliament’s portfolio committee on Water Affairs and Forestry heard testimony from complaining residents who were living with the device and called for a report from the City on the issue. The South African Municipal Workers Union (Samwu) regards the water management device as the same as the pre-paid water meter, which the Johannesburg High Court ruled last year was unconstitutional – a ruling being appealed by the City of Johannesburg. Samwu national researcher Jeff Rudin said the argument for saving water was “laughable” and the device was instead about credit control as it was mostly installed in poor areas.

But according to a March 2009 press release issued by the city, the devices are saving 156 million litres of water worth R519,000 every month. City of Cape Town director of water, sanitation and utility services Lungile Dhlamini said the objective was not to restrict water supplies, but rather to provide water to customers which they could afford. This happened through the process of repairing leakages at properties, installing flow management devices and then writing off account arrears.

Dhlamini said there was a “very low incidence” of faulty devices. Nor was water cut off due to faulty devices, he said, but only due to daily allocations being exceeded or leaks reoccurring.

Source: Yugendree Naidoo, West Cape News / allAfrica.com, 21 June 2009

Zimbabwe, Harare: City gets US$ 17 million for water and sanitation, aid agencies fear more cholera

Government has given more than US$17 million to the Harare City Council  to upgrade water and sewerage infrastructure. An extra US$ 2.4 million would soon become available to construct a dedicated power line for the Morton Jaffray water treatment plant.

Will this be enough to prevent a new cholera outbreak when the summer rainy season begins in September, as aid agencies fear?  It  was a step in the right direction said Water development minister Sam Sipepa Nkomo, but he suggested that at least US$21 million was needed to completely overhaul the Harare water and sewerage network. Harare was the epicentre of  Africa’s worst cholera outbreak in 15 years, which started in August 2008 and killed 4,000 people.

Finance Minister Tendai Biti whose ministry gave the funds, said the aim as to restore water to Harare and in particular the University of Zimbabwe. Biti stressed that it had been difficult to get the funds as government could spend very little for capital expenditure because 70 per cent of its expenditure goes towards allowances and salaries.

Minister Biti said the funds should be specifically used to rehabilitate the Morton Jaffray treatment plant, repair of the water distribution network, installation of pumps at Lomagundi and Alex Park stations, upgrading of the sewer network in Highfield, Glen Norah, Budiriro, Kambuzuma, Dzivarasekwa and Kuwadzana. Crowborough and Firle sewage treatment plants would also be covered with the funds.

The Government expected an increase of water production by 100 megalitres per day, reduction of water losses by 50 megalitres per day and a reduction of sewer blockages in high density areas by half.

Town clerk, Dr Tendai Mahachi had promised an ambitious 90-day period to fully restore the city’s water and sewer services using the funds.

The Government had more positive news: water supply has been restored to the nearby town of Ruwa after nearly two years and local company Tenduros Investments, has invested US$1 million in a water treatment chemicals plant in Harare.

Meanhile aid agencies are gearing up for the eventuality of another serious cholera outbreak by drilling 200 new boreholes in cholera hotspots, distributing hygiene kits, and sensitization and education efforts to better equip Zimbabweans to cope.

Source: The Herald, 04 Jul, 30 Jun and 23 Jun 2009 ; IRIN, 08 Jul 2009

Uganda: Lango, Acholi Schools Get Sh5 Billion Water Tanks

Primary schools in Lango and Acholi sub-regions have received water tanks worth sh5b from the Netherlands government. The 1,041 tanks are part of the 22m euros, which the education ministry received from the Netherlands government in 2008. “At least one million primary school pupils will get safe and clean water,” the education state minister, Kamanda Bataringaya, said at the handover at Kuruma Falls in Amuru district on 19 June 2009. Part of the funds are being used to buy textbooks and to construct classrooms, teachers’ houses and latrines.

Source: Ronald Kalyango, New Vision / allAfrica.com, 21 Jun 2009