Page 123

CEP template 2012

Access to services For many Caribbean countries, improved water supply and sanitation coverage exceed 90 per cent of the country. The problems are not so much associated with the provision of or access to water services (though this does remain an issue) but with the quality of service and the maintenance and operation of the infrastructure. In Barbados in particular, underreading by domestic and bulk production meters as well as pipe bursts and leakages contribute to high levels of unaccounted water loss (Halcrow Inc, 2010). Across the region, countries have an ageing water infrastructure and tend to focus their efforts on the maintenance and extension of supplies to customers. Investment in mains replacement programmes as well as in leakage management has not received much attention. This is partly due to management efforts focusing on ensuring that new developments are serviced and supporting economic activity. Water is intrinsically heavy and requires energy to be transported through transmission and distribution systems. As a result, many water utilities are big consumers of electricity. Electricity generation in the Caribbean relies heavily on imported fossil fuel, paid for in hard currency, and represents a burden on many countries’ balance of payments. Energy costs in the Caribbean are among the highest in the western hemisphere. It has been estimated that savings of between 30 and 40 per cent could be made by installing energyefficient devices and optimising pumping equipment (ECLAC, 2010). Little use is made of renewable energy sources, other than of hydropower.5 The provision of infrastructure for waste water services lags behind drinking water services. It has been estimated that 85 per cent of waste water entering the Caribbean Sea remains untreated. Sewage discharges into the marine environment are considered to be one of the main factors causing the degradation of coral reefs, eutrophication and harmful algal blooms. A cost–benefit analysis of a proposed sewerage scheme in Barbados (BWA, 2008) demonstrated that, despite (relatively minor) public health benefits, costs arising from tourism-related losses and deterioration of the marine environment were in the order of US$260 million, giving rise to benefit–cost ratios of between 1.3 and 1.6. Moreover, advanced wastewater treatment would allow for an augmentation of scarce water resources and increase water availability for agriculture and industry. Management for affordability Arguing that water and sanitation are essential social services, it is common for politicians and politically influenced regulators to keep tariffs below cost. In a report by the World Bank (2005) it was argued that ‘the fact that many Caribbean water utilities are demonstrably inefficient helps rationalize this decision’. Poor management, lack of investment and inadequate water services have led some Caribbean states to consider addressing the problems through forms of franchise or private sector involvement (this has occurred in Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, Saint Lucia and Belize). For a variety of reasons, these initiatives have not been successful and have been opposed by trade unions and citizen groups. An emerging alternative has been to encourage cooperation Wa t e r s e c u r i t y a n d s e r v i c e s i n t h e Ca r i b b e a n between service providers both within and outside the region, as well as benchmarking the performance of water service providers. However, a lack of agreed standards of performance, confused and ineffective regulation of utilities (World Bank, 2005) and an absence of water policies (Cashman, 2012) has allowed poor performance to continue to place security of supply and effective water management at risk. There are, after all, two sides to affordability: first, the affordability of water management and services to the consumer/customer/ citizen, which revolves around determining willingness and ability to pay for services; and second, the costs associated with the provision of services and how these are to be afforded by the provider. While there are many instances of affordability being largely determined by political considerations within the Caribbean, probably only Jamaica has an independent and functional regulatory regime through which such matters can be resolved (World Bank, 2005).6 A development that appears to be emerging as a result of the current economic challenges is that of off-balance sheet financing mechanisms such as public–private partnerships. To date, such arrangements have been used in the provision of desalination plants, but there is no reason why the approach cannot be extended to other aspects of service provision and management, such as that of waste water facilities. Some of the successful delivery models from Jamaica and Haiti include water services being provided by small companies, community-based organisations and non-governmental organisations. Commonwealth Governance Handbook 2014/15 121 Risk factors Hurricane Tomás, which affected the Caribbean in 2010, highlighted the impact of extreme events on maintaining accessibility under emergency situations. In Saint Lucia, as a result of the impact of Hurricane Tomás, the principal storage reservoir was silted up by a landslide, which damaged the electricity supply and pumping facilities. Consequently, some 80 per cent of the population had to cope with limited water supply. The siltation blocked the lower intake significantly, reducing the available storage supply volume. Hurricane Tomás highlighted the multiple facets to maintaining accessibility; water systems cannot operate without electricity and water becomes non-potable if it cannot be properly treated. This suggests that greater attention needs to be paid to scenarios where risk and uncertainty analysis are factored in. The ability to withstand shocks (such as droughts, floods and hurricanes) to water services infrastructure is a matter that has hereto not received much attention in the Caribbean region. More attention has been paid to the formulation of drought management measures and sector responses to hurricanes than to disaster and emergency response planning across affected sectors. This is changing as greater attention is being paid by water managers to the development of Water Safety Plans (LAC-WSP Network, 2008; CEHI, 2009) and, more recently, by the industry in developing source vulnerability assessments. At the heart of it, the ability to cope with shocks is as much a governance issue as it is an infrastructure issue.


CEP template 2012
To see the actual publication please follow the link above