Performance of Private Sponsors towards Sustainable Piped Water Supply in Rural Bangladesh

A K M Kamruzzaman,Ilias Said,Omar Osman

doi:10.5539/mas.v8n1p83

Abstract

This paper evaluated performance of private sponsor’s in implementing piped water supply schemes through partnership approach in rural villages of Bangladesh. Structured questionnaire were administered and collected data by using an interview method from 21 scheme mangers. Collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Time, cost and efficiency were used as evaluation criteria for both implementation and operation period. The study findings revealed widespread incompetence of sponsors in preparing project proposals. Time spent for construction shows 19% (4 sponsors) complete earlier than planned/required completion period; and 29% (6 sponsors) within the stipulated time whereas, remaining 52% (11 sponsors) with some delay. 5% (1) sponsor started commercial operation with 100% connections whereas, 10% (2), 25% (5) and 15% (3) commissioned the scheme with 60%, 50% and 40% of their target connections. 35% (7) of the sponsors operated their schemes with profit. This planning and management approach may be suitable for implementing sustainable rural piped water supply schemes in countries with similar context like Bangladesh.

Highlights

In developed countries water service providers are serving in a number of institutional modes: either privately or publicly owned, operating at a local, regional or national level (Foxon et al, 2002)
The scope of private sector participation in water supply services includes service management to Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) (Tayler, 2007). Such Public Private Partnership (PPP) in rural water supply is a new concept in Bangladesh
A few rural piped water supply schemes are implemented through PPP, which creates an avenue for channeling private fund to produce public goods and commercial management to ensure sustainable water supply

Summary

Introduction

In developed countries water service providers are serving in a number of institutional modes: either privately or publicly owned, operating at a local, regional or national level (Foxon et al, 2002). The scope of private sector participation in water supply services includes service management to Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) (Tayler, 2007) Such Public Private Partnership (PPP) in rural water supply is a new concept in Bangladesh. While most of the pilot schemes (102 nos.) were developed by government through its line agencies and operated by communities i.e. water and sanitation committees (DPHE & JICA, 2008), only a limited number of schemes (27 nos.) are developed jointly and operated by private sponsors/operators (DPC, 2010; Kamruzzaman et al, 2012) Such models draw largely on the success of small scale private operators in mobilizing resources. It supports private sponsors’ planning, implementation and management of rural piped water schemes with capital grants, to ensure access for poor households

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Conclusion