MSC INNOVATION MANAGEMENT AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP, WATER AND SANITATION POLICY IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES, ASSIGNMENT 1 (POLICY BRIEF), MANCHESTER

R BUSINESS SCHOOL, UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER. GROUP PROJECT: STUDENT ID: 7558607 STUDENT ID: 7500908 Long Term Strategy for Situation of Chronic Drinking Water in Port-au-Prince: The municipal water supply system provides water to one third of the population of Port au Prince. The presence of 18 springs in the hills south of the city are the important sources of water for municipal water system supplying approximately 36 million cube meters of water per year. In the recent years these water bodies are facing several major problems as all the springs are reported to be contaminated heavily by biological waste and have become too polluted to be used which is reducing the quality and quantity of water supply. As the situation in Port-au-Prince is getting worse day by day without proper Water and Sanitation, more than 3 million people are suffering from the lack of proper drinking water. Most of the Citys pipelines, which were the main sources of water supply till the Earthquake in January 2010, have been damaged. The damage to the water supply is estimated to take long duration of time to be reconstructed and ready for public use. Before the natural disaster occurred, only 19% of the water demand of the city was being met by the existing system then and so the water situation in Port au Prince cannot be only attributed to the recent earthquake that shook the city. Hence we have to carefully analyze the issue at hand and think in the Long Term Perspective of the Water system crisis, to draw a Strategy wherein the problem has to be solved and a permanent solution should be drawn upon and executed, the result of which should strongly reflect in the rebuilding of the Water Supply System in Port-au-Prince, so as to be able to have an immediate recovery in case of future Water system problems.

Hence we have to act swiftly in terms of collecting data or information on various issues that have to be addressed. The description of the type of information to be collected is as follows: Approximate economical range of the citizens of Port-au-Prince. Information on industrial Waste Dumping into the water bodies of Port-auPrince. Situation of Port-au-Princes natural water recourses and their levels of Contamination. Prioritization of the areas affected by severe shortage of water due to the recent earthquake. Household and Community-level Water and Sanitation Situation in the city of Port-au-Prince, especially in the densely populated areas. Effect of Economical Disruption in the city due to the recent earthquake. Citizens feedback of improvements that could be done in the Water Supply System of their city. Drinking Water distributors feedback of the citys water situation and the transport problem faced in transporting water to the city. Existing Situation of the Water supply infrastructure in the city, like a Water Treatment Plant, etc. Keep check from time to time on USAIDs capacity to handle a situation at hand and keep check on its resources like funds, manpower, etc. Levels of Water and Sanitation Service There are different groups of citizens of Port-au-Prince who need the services over the longer term. These levels of services exist for the differentiation of why and where Water and Sanitation Services are needed, these levels can be of various kind, but we look into the 4 most important and appropriate levels to be addressed in Port-auPrince, which are, 1.Local Level: Local level Water and Sanitation Service deals with the local bodies, like local governing bodies, local practitioners, municipal offices. Here

support is extended to municipal offices, NGOs, local governing bodies, and other government and non-profit organizations in order to provide Water and Sanitation Services. Local level services deals with providing water and sanitation services to hospitals, refuge camps too, it deals in general with the overall hygiene of the locality, which is in concern. 2.Household Level: Here it is more concerned with the hygiene of families, particularly mothers and children for a clean environment and improved sanitation. Wrong hygiene practices can jeopardize their own health and the health of the community and the city as a whole. The following steps can be taken to improve hygiene practices: Spreading the message of good hygiene and the importance of sanitation. Alerting local government of sanitation-related needs. Assisting local government in planning, implementing, monitoring and evaluating sanitation projects. Reporting faulty sanitation systems and sanitation risks to the environment to local government. Ensuring that toilet facilities are always clean and in good working order. Households have to provide their own sanitation facilities. Local government will assist households to do this through: Educating by offering programs for managing their own water supply system, such as maintenance of hand pumps, cleanliness of water sources, etc Community-based programmes whereby local builders are trained to build safe and hygienic toilet facilities. These local builders will assist households to construct their own toilet facilities Supplying the essential components to ensure that the

toilet facility is hygienic, safe and accessible. Local government will provide guidelines for households to dig their own pits and build their own top structure. 3.Community Level: In this Community Level Water and Sanitation Services, is provided to the entire community, which will benefit from the services, provided they follow the rules. A Community is an enclosed one with having its own set of practices and behaviors that may seem not very co-operative. People, especially kids in an enclosed community should be taught about the current situation of Water and Sanitation so that he acts responsible towards the problem. Many water bodies have been contaminated due to Chemical or Biological or Human Waste. It should be the duty of that Community to enforce a moral or communal ban against polluting water by industries to help save water and improve upon sanitation. 4.Government Level: The government level services will be related to any changes in policy and planning that should take place in order to supply better water and sanitation facilities to its people. It would focus more on keeping the water sources uncontaminated. This is especially aimed at the major industries like biochemical or biological or even manufacturing industries. These industries contaminate the good flowing water bodies of the city. The Industrial wastes make the water unsafe to be consumed and even taken for treatment. So here Government Level Water and Sanitation Services can be more efficiently carried out if the government agrees to have an understanding with Private companies, NGOs etc., for the work to be finished soon. Long-Term Reconstruction Efforts: The long-term reconstruction effort should begin in the most densely populated area of the city. It may start with: Well Exercises: Haiti depends a lot on ground water supply as the quantity of ground water is good. Hand Pumps are in great demand as they are the

cheapest and clean source of water and installing them could be of great benefit at the time of water scarcity. Wastewater treatment: As there is no proper water and sanitation facilities in adverse conditions, water waste treatment is needed to improve the quality of the surface water resources of the area, as most of the population uses surface water supply. This improves household and community level hygiene and sanitation.

Pricing of Services in the Long Term Strategy: Haiti being the poorest country in the western hemisphere, the major part of the population is poverty stricken and therefore cannot afford to pay for their water expenses. In such a scenario initially the water facilities would be provided free of cost and investment on indispensable services be made, such as, engineers should begin immediately to evaluate and repair the basic water system. Some space on the first cargo planes should be reserved for small-scale desalination systems and other water purification plants that can be put in place immediately in centralized locations. Systems that fit on pallets, that in turn fit on transport planes should be available. Water (such as bottled water) itself is very heavy so it is better to send equipment to purify unlimited amounts of water available on land. After the primary phase of investment in providing the basic supply of water and sanitation to the people is done, a new line of investment will take place in a number of different areas on a larger scale that will cater to the long-term supply of water and sanitation facilities. But these services will not be free and the people will be charged a price for the use of these facilities based on their level of income. The activities to ensure long term supply of water would be; Ascertaining how much water for future needs, Cleaning and disinfecting wells, water storage tanks boreholes and tankers, Rehabilitating small-scale piped water distribution systems, emergency treatment of drinking water at the point of use, solid waste management in emergencies and measuring chlorine levels in water supplies. These activities would help the city to stabilize water and sanitation facilities, improving their standard of life considerably. Institutional Changes: USAID do not have much institutional changes, as the work being done is not out of

USAIDs radar. Even if there were certain changes, then they would be only Minor changes.