Zambia: State aware of urgent need for more investment in water sector’

Minsiter of Energy and Water Development Kenneth Konga says Government is aware of the urgent need for more investment in the water and sanitation sector and is committed to ensuring increased funding.

Mr Konga said this is evidenced by increased funding to the sector, citing the rise in funding in the national budget allocation from 2.7 percent in 2009 to five percent in 2010.

He said this at the inauguration of the re-appointed National Water and Sanitation Council (NWASCO) in Lusaka on Tuesday [29 December 2009].

“Funds have also been sourced from bilateral and multi-lateral partners to address the many challenges facing the sector,” he said.

[...] He said to ensure achievement of Millennium Development Goals by service providers, NWASCO has a challenge in monitoring the performance of the providers and ensuring that services are extended to more people, particularly in peri-urban areas.

The minister said Government is committed to ensuring that people have access to safe drinking water and ideal sanitation, saying this can only be achieved if service delivery is done in an efficient, cost-effective and sustainable manner.

He said tariffs are an area of concern and that Government wants to ensure that people pay a fair price for services they get.

“This must be in accordance with the quality of services being provided to avoid exploitation in view of the policy on commercialization of the services,” he said

Mr Konga said the water sector is one of the key areas to be given priority in the Sixth National Development Plan to be implemented in June 2010.

NWASCO chairperson Cosmas Musumali said the council realises that there is still a large number of people who do not have access to clean and safe drinking water.

He said substantial capitalisation is needed for more people in peri-urban areas to access clean and safe water.

Devolution Trust Fund (DTF) manager Sam Gong’a also said [...] that much more still needs to be done if any meaningful impact is to be felt.

Gong’a expressed doubt that the MDG on sanitation would be achieved, with 60 per cent of the urban population still lacking access to proper sanitation.

Gong’a said the National Water Supply and Sanitation Council (NWASCO), through DTF, had embarked on a number of projects in 2009 aimed at improving water and sanitation service delivery across the country.

“Basically, we had about 10 projects which we embarked on this year, seven of which have been completed while we expect to complete the other three by next week (this week). We were unable to complete the remaining projects mainly due to land ownership problems at the sites we chose to develop,” he said.
Gong’a said the 10 projects have been carried out at a cost of K15 billion and would benefit about 20,000 residents.

He said an agreement was recently signed with the German Development Bank totalling three million euros (about K20 billion) which would assist in improving sanitation services.

Gong’a stressed that there was need for commercial utilities to use the availed funds prudently if the country was to improve its service delivery in the water and sanitation sector and realise its sector goals.

The members of the installed NWASCO are Cosmas Musumali from Health Service and Systems, Zambia Consumers Association, executive secretary Muyunda Ililonga, Zeles Zulu from the ministry of Local Government and Joe Simachela from Justice ministry.

Source: Rebecca Chileshe, Zambia Daily Mail, 30 Dec 2009 ; Times of Zambia / allAfrica.com, 30 Dec 2009 ; Florence Bupe, The Post, 30 Dec 2009

Tanzania: water and sewerage authority ranks high in corruption “List of Shame”

The Tanzanian water and sewerage authority ranks fifth in the corruption ‘List of Shame” published by the regional NGO Concern for Development Initiatives in Africa (ForDIA).

The report is the second comprehensive local study on corruption perception compiled by ForDIA.

The Tanzania Electric Supply Company (Tanesco) is the most corrupt public institution according to the report, followed by the police, judiciary, and licensing and revenue, in second, third and fourth place respectively.

Speaking at the launch of the report [on 30 December 2009], ForDIA Tanzania Chapter Executive Director Mr Bubelwa Kaiza said the study carried out in 40 districts had shown that corruption levels were still “very high” and remained a major concern among Tanzanians.

Mr Kaiza said corruption perception had dropped by 3 per cent compared to the 2008 findings. [...] For every 100 people, 48 were affected by corruption. Fifty-one per cent of the respondents said they were affected in the earlier study.

Mr Kaiza said 41 per cent of the respondents pointed cited greed and selfishness as the leading causes of corrupt behaviour followed by low salaries (28 per cent) and poverty (17 per cent).

Other factors were weak civic competence (8 per cent), service fast-tracking (4.4 per cent), immorality (2 per cent), abuse of power (1 per cent) and response to foreign policy (0.1 per cent).

The study carried between March and July [2009], focused on service delivery by local government authorities in the 40 districts in 10 regions namely Mwanza, Tabora, Singida, Iringa, Arusha, Dodoma, Coast, Kigoma, Shinyanga and Ruvuma.

Mr Kaiza said the police, Judiciary, health, lands and housing and natural resources were the leading areas of bribery, in that order, at the grassroots level. Tanesco did not feature prominently here largely because most rural areas have yet to be connected to the national power grid.

He noted that corruption awareness among the public was as high as 90 per cent, implying that people frequently gave or received bribes.

The findings also suggest that law enforcement agencies are virtually non-existent at the village level, making it difficult for ordinary people to report corruption.

[...]

The report comes barely a month after Global perception Index (CPI) reported that Tanzania has slipped 24 places in the global corruption ranking over the last one year, reflecting the country’s faltering effort in the campaign against the vice.

The country dropped from position 102 in 2008, to 126 in the 2009 Global Corruption Perception Index (CPI), whose results were released [in November 2009] by the Berlin-based anti-graft agency, Transparency International (TI).

According to the findings of the respected anti-corruption watchdog, Tanzania posted its first worst performance in recent years in the annual ranking of the 180 countries surveyed worldwide.

However, with the exception of Rwanda, Tanzania did better in the region, ranking higher than Kenya (146) and Uganda (130) in the global index. Kenya improved by one position, while Uganda dropped four places.

Rwanda, which was ranked the same as Tanzania in 2008, is now considered the least corrupt country in the East Africa, coming in at an impressive 89th place.

For more on corruption on Tanzania go the U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre.

Source: The Citizen / allAfrica.com, 31 Dec 2009

Nigeria: Dutch court to try Shell for oil spills

A Dutch court has said it has jurisdiction over a case of alleged oil spills brought against Royal Dutch Shell’s subsidiary in Nigeria by four Nigerian farmers and Friends of the Earth, a court spokeswoman told ANP-Reuters.

“The court has decided that it is competent, so we will be handling the case,” said the spokeswoman.

“The facts are connected and for reasons of efficiency the cases against Shell and Shell Nigeria will be handled jointly.”

This case, brought by four Nigerian victims of Shell oil spills from three Nigerian villages, in conjunction with Friends of the Earth Netherlands, began on December 3, 2009, in the court at The Hague.

This is the first time in history that a Dutch company has been brought to trial before a Dutch court for damages abroad.

The four farmers and fishermen who lost their livelihoods after oil leaking from Shell pipelines spilled over their fields and fishing ponds, are claiming compensation.

Reports contained in “remember saro-wiwa” website indicate that the victims subpoenaed both Shell’s subsidiary in Nigeria and Shell’s Dutch headquarters, alleging that as “the result of the company’s negligence, agricultural lands have been devastated, drinking water polluted, fish ponds made unusable and the environment and health of local people harmed”.

Shell denied all responsibility and insisted that the Dutch court has no jurisdiction over its Nigerian subsidiary.
At a hearing at The Hague earlier this month, Shell disputed the court’s jurisdiction to entertain the case and argued that such a case should be handled by a Nigerian court.

The oil major also said it could not be held accountable for the oil leaks as they were caused by sabotage.
At Shell’s request, the court had to address the issue of jurisdiction first by ruling on whether Shell Nigeria can be called to account before the Dutch court, before considering whether Shell parent company is liable for the pollution in Nigeria.

However, with yesterday’s court ruling that it has jurisdiction, the issue of whether Shell Nigeria can be called to account before the Dutch court has been laid to rest.

The court said that in order to handle the case properly, both Shell and its Nigerian unit should be heard.
It also said that “it is not unusual” in the Dutch jurisprudence to rule on events that happened outside the Netherlands.

Shell said it was disappointed with the court’s ruling.

“We are disappointed by the court ruling,” a Shell spokesman told Dow Jones Newswires.

“There are good arguments on which the court could have concluded it lacks jurisdiction. This [case] is a pure Nigerian matter,” he added.

The trial will continue in February 2010.

According to the court spokeswoman, Shell will be able to enter a statement of reply to the claims on February 10.

But Friends of the Earth Netherlands expressed delight at the ruling.

“Now we can start the real lawsuit about whether Shell is responsible and how much they have to do to compensate the damage,” a spokeswoman for the environmental group said.

Speaking on behalf of the victims in Nigeria, Chima Williams, Counsel of Enviro-nmental Rights Action (ERA), was quoted by “remember saro-wiwa” website as saying that: “These people have tried in many ways to get Shell to clean up the mess, but they have got nowhere. Now, as a last resort, they are trying to obtain justice in the Netherlands.”

The ruling which could set a legal precedent for multinationals in the Netherlands, is “an initial victory for all Nigerians that have been fighting for years for a cleaner habitat and justice”, Friends of the Earth Netherlands said in a statement.

The case was also a matter of principle for Friends of the Earth Netherlands.

“In many countries, including Nigeria, the legal system is inadequate, and it is thus crucial that a company can also be brought to trial elsewhere,” the environmentalist group said.

Read a related story about the case in the Guardian.

Source: Ejiofor Alike, This Day, 31 Dec 2009

Watch the Friends of the Earth Netherlands video “The people of Nigeria versus Shell”

Nigeria: stakeholders call for adoption of CLTS

There are new calls for the adoption of the Community Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) approach by all the 36 States and the FCT [Federal Capital Territory] for the promotion of sanitation and attainment of the MDG target for Sanitation in Nigeria.

A recent workshop [called for] the establishment of a CLTS Technical Advisory Committee drawn from the National Task Group on Sanitation, States and LGAs [Local Government Areas] for further development of the approach to respond to the peculiar challenges of Nigeria. The communiqué said that strengthening the capacities of WASHCOM [Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Committees] and natural leaders identified to support their communities to ODF (Open Defecation Free) status and also facilitate CLTS in neighboring communities has the potential of supporting the scaling up of CLTS in Nigeria.

The communiqué further said that there must be harmonized monitoring tools for CLTS at all levels to enhance information and experience sharing, adoption of the Draft Guidelines for Certification of Open Defecation Free (ODF) and Total Sanitation Community by all states and the FCT as minimum benchmark for the Certification process of Communities, ensuring the involvement of all relevant stakeholders like Environmental Health Officers (EHOs) and NYSC [National Youth Service Corps] in the implementation of CLTS in Nigeria; as demonstrated in Osun State where the involvement of the NYSC assisted in successfully scaling up CLTS in the State as well as accentuate evidence-based advocacy at all levels of Government for political will and support.

Lastly, the communiqué said that UNICEF must intensify liaison with the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Millennium Development Goals (MDG Office) to advocate for MDG funds for scaling up CLTS in Nigeria as well as develop capacity building of the National Water Resource Institute to organize regular and customized short courses on CLTS towards building a critical mass of practitioners for scaling up CLTS in the country.

Read more about CLTS in Nigeria

Source: Benjamin Auta, Daily Trust / allAfrica.com, 30 Dec 2009

30 December 2009

Southern Africa: Water Centres of Excellence Initiative finally takes off

A project to boost water resources in southern Africa, first announced in 2003, held its first executive meeting [in November 2009].

The Water Centres of Excellence Initiative, started by New Partnerships for Development in Africa (NEPAD) [read the original strategic plan] , aims to promote cooperation and knowledge transfer among water research institutions to secure adequate clean water and manage resources for national and regional development.

It was established after the first African Ministerial Conference on Science and Technology in 2003 but an expansion of the centres is only now under discussion.

Centres of water excellence are already operational in Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Zambia, and other Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) countries will be invited to become partners if they have water research programmes.

The first meeting of the committee — held in Stellenbosch, Cape Town on 13 November [2009] — discussed plans for the next three years. They include providing bursaries for staff and postgraduate students to build capacity at water centres, and technology and knowledge transfer at workshops and conferences.

Prof Eugene Cloete

“We want to see improved resource management and policy formulation,” said Eugene Cloete, chair of the executive committee and dean of the faculty of science at Stellenbosch University, which is coordinating the project. High-quality water sources in rural and urban areas and the use of water purification technology are key aims.

“The focus is on people and strengthening networks through disseminating research results and not on funding specific research topics,” he said.

Daniel Nkhuwa, a water expert at the University of Zambia, said the region has some people qualified to deal with water issues, especially groundwater which until now has been neglected.

But he said that there is a need for more training at water centres.

“Some institutions and infrastructure need updating, but funding still remains very low in most of our countries,” Nkhuwa told SciDev.Net, adding that improving knowledge will need more funding for education.

Murray Biedler, programme administrator for the Africa Caribbean Pacific–European Union (ACP-EU) Water Facility, told SciDev.Net that the European Commission (EC) has approved around US$2 million of funding for the network, which will be implemented in 2010 under the EC’s Joint Research Commission.

He said: “From a donor point of view, one development we would hope to see (after three years) is more than one network established in Africa, and then at least the beginnings of South–South collaboration and exchange between networks.”

Source: Munyaradzi Makoni, SciDev.Net, 29 Dec 2009