30 June 2009
Maputo — The Mozambican Minister of Public Works, Felicio Zacarias, said on Monday 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.
Among the major gains from the system of delegated management have been investments in the water systems leading 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 Minister said that currently 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.
"There is also greater professionalism in managing the water supply systems", added Zacarias.
Despite these signs of progress, he admitted that there are still many challenges to be overcome, including the need to ensure improved levels of satisfaction among consumers. He admitted that consumer satisfaction "is lower than would be desirable".
A further challenge is to expand the water systems to peri-urban areas not yet covered, and under acceptable conditions.
The study covers the period 2000-2007. It notes that initially delegated management suffered a series of setbacks which led the main partner in the "Aguas de Mocambique" (Waters of Mozambique) consortium, the French company SAUR, to drop out.
But it claims that by 2007, the initial problems had been solved, and the foundations laid for strong cooperation between the private managers and the government, and thus for the success of the reform.
The reforms, it adds, have proved sustainable, and the country is now reaping the benefits. This stage was reached, it argues, because of the government's commitment to the reform, 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.
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