| dc.description.abstract | Most of the existing water supplies in the urban areas in Kenya are generally poor
in terms of technical and financial performance. Service coverage is inadequate,
levels of service are low, and in many cases the situation has been deteriorating.
The main reasons for the poor water service delivery are considered to be rooted
in the past and current institutional and organisational arrangements. The
Government has since the early 1970s been introducing measures to deal with
these problems. These changes include use of different management options in
the provision of water supply and sewerage services especially in urban water
utilities.
The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of the
management contract which is the Private Sector Participation (PSP) option in
use in Malindi water supply with a view of determining reasons for its adoption
and the extent to which it has improved service delivery. The secondary objective
was establishing the critical factors that have made the PSP operator to succeed
in order to come up with lessons that can be replicated in other urban water
utilities. Questionnaires and interviews both in the field and in Nairobi were used
in the study. In addition, various reports were synthesised to identify the prior
problems in the water supply and achievements of the PSP operator in
accordance with the contract performance targets.
The study revealed that the management contract entered into between the
operator and the client was strong in financial provisions, however, the incentives I,
and penalties were based on poor performance standards. The findings also
indicate that the introduction of PSP in the utility was as a result of desire to
improve operational and strategic management in the utility; enhance technical
capacity; excessive donor pressure; demand for professional management; need
to increase tariffs and need to introduce new technology and efficiency in the
scheme. The study findings shows that the PSP operator has improved the
financial performance of the scheme, through substantial increase in collection
efficiency; the fear that PSP leads to staff reductions has been proved wrong as
the PSP operator increased staff numbers from 20 to 61persons; the PSP
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operator has introduced professional management in the utility operations.
Furthermore, the PSP operator allocates adequate funds to operation and
maintenance (O&M) and has improved customer relations and introduced use of
information technology on the scheme. Indeed 51% of the respondents are of the
view that the supply is more reliable than before PSP. However, the research also
revealed that 55% of the respondents are not satisfied with the water quality;
customers who buy water from kiosks or vendors pay a higher price than
customers with a water connection. There were complaints that the PSP operator
unnecessarily delays approval for establishment of additional water kiosks and
does not adequately address complaints. Views were also expressed that the
PSP operator is too strict therefore his contract should be terminated.
The lessons learnt are that professional management of a water utility, sufficient
funding for operation and maintenance, good customer care and realistic tariffs
will lead to efficient sustainable and reliable water supply. Training and proper
remuneration were identified as important aspect of motivation for staff in any
water utility. It was also recognised that for PSP to succeed, it should be preceded
by commercial development of a water utility which includes reducing UFW,
introducing computerised billing, developing comprehensive O&M management
based on preventive maintenance and prompt completion of repairs and
improving customer services.
The lessons learnt are that professional management of a water utility, sufficient
funding for operation and maintenance, good customer care, proper information to
customers and realistic tariffs will lead to efficient sustainable and reliable water
supply. Training, focused work assignment and proper remuneration were
identified as important aspect of motivation for staff in any water utility. It was also
recognised that for PSP to succeed, it should be preceded by commercial
development of a water utility which includes reducing UFW, introducing
computerised billing, developing comprehensive O&M management based on
preventive maintenance and prompt completion of repairs and improving
customer services. | en |
