In theory, rural water supply services in Pakistan should be managed by communities but in practice this is often ineffective. Operators commonly collect fees and act as informal contractors. Neither direct government management nor community management has succeeded in providing sustainable services to the rural population. Could the private sector provide the answer?

A paper from Cardiff University in the UK assesses the potential for improving water supply services through more formal forms of private sector involvement.

In Pakistan in 1990, the assumption that the government should manage water systems gave way to the idea of community management. Village water users’ committees were set up to manage systems, collect fees and pay workers and electricity bills. This focus on local management was further strengthened in 2001 by decentralisation reforms which devolved responsibilities for a wide range of services to ‘tehsils’ and union councils, the two lowest levels of government.

The high number of non-operational schemes suggests that community management is not working. A survey in one ‘tehsil’ found that only 40 percent of the 25 existing schemes were operational. Even in villages with a working system, water is rarely supplied to all households, as few systems are expanded after initial construction in response to population growth.

In still-functioning systems, interviews suggest that workers informally assume responsibility for scheme operation while formal community management institutions play little or no role. Operators pay themselves from the surplus remaining after bills have been paid – a form of private sector participation (PSP).

Local firms with suitable technical, management and financial skills do not exist in rural Pakistan as expertise in water supply has been confined to the public sector. Informal involvement of private individuals is unlikely to provide adequate levels of service. More formal PSP arrangements are needed to bring in a wider range of skills.

The author argues that:

• Centralised regulation (something often called for by the World Bank) may not be relevant to the needs of small-scale decentralised water supply operations. These can be better regulated through clear and enforceable contracts.
• There is no obvious legislative barrier to private sector participation.
• Village-level water user committees are unlikely to be effective, particularly when contractors are inexperienced and the nearest source of potable water – in a region with a major salinity problem – may be far away.

Localised forms of private sector involvement may be worth developing but will be dependent on action to develop private sector capacity, implement oversight arrangements and provide support to oversight bodies and private sector operators. The current crisis in provision will not be ended without strong commitment from the Punjab Government and international partners to explore innovative models.

There are a number of possible PSP rural water supply options:

• Private sector operators could be supervised by village water supply committees with higher-level oversight provided by a rural water board constituted as a public authority.
• Non-governmental organisations could be encouraged to provide operational (such as planning, financing and administration management) and technical (training programmes, on-site assistance) support.
• Sub-district administrations could set up corporate bodies to provide water services.
• Pakistan could learn from recent experience in Uganda, where a donor has enabled a scheme to support private water system operators.

Source(s):
‘Options for Private Sector Involvement in Rural Water Supply Provision in Pakistan’, Journal of International Development, 19, 829–83, by William Kevin Tayler, 2007

Funded by: UK Department for International Development (DFID)

id21 Research Highlight: 17 October 2007

Further Information:
William Kevin Tayler
Cardiff School of City and Regional Planning
Cardiff University
Glamorgan Building
King Edward VII Avenue
Cardiff, CF10 3WA
UK

Tel: +44 (0)1403 257388
Fax: +44 (0)29 20874845
Contact the contributor: taylerk@tinyonline.co.uk

Cardiff School of City and Regional Planning, Cardiff University, UK

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'Men, women and water – how can a community improve their water supply?'

'Connecting people to water: the failure of the private sector'