MINISTER of Housing and Water, Mr. Irfaan Ali, underscoring the importance of inter-agency collaboration and harmonisation in efforts to tackle issues in the water sector, has noted that developing countries must cut non-revenue water losses.

Minister of Housing and Water, Mr. Irfaan Ali addressing the participants at the workshop. Sitting at the head table from left are: President of the Caribbean Water and Wastewater Association, Mr. Cyprian Gibson; IDB Representative, Mr. Frederico Basanes; and CDB Representative, Mr. Carlson Gough.

He made this point during the opening of the Caribbean Water Operators’ Partnership Workshop Monday at the Cara Lodge, Quamina Street, Georgetown.

The workshop was conducted through the collaborative effort of the Caribbean Water and Wastewater Association, the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT).

Among the issues addressed by participants were: capacity building and benchmarking in the Caribbean; sector activities for IDB and CDB; energy efficiency for water operators; success factors for utility partnership; and a draft framework for action.

Minister Ali, declaring the activity open, said it is important to reflect on future challenges and some of the accomplishments in the water sector, noting, “A very critical point is made and that is the importance of inter-agency collaboration and harmonisation in our efforts to tackle the various issues in the water sector.

“We are faced globally with the challenge of sustaining our resource, that is the water resource; ensuring that future generations benefit from this very scarce commodity; and at the same time, we are faced with the challenge of ensuring water remains a social good,” he pointed out.

Participants at the workshop.

He went on, “Yet, the importance of it as an economic commodity cannot be underscored and that is one of the major challenges here in the Caribbean,” he said.

“Here in Guyana you would hear the country being described as ‘the land of many waters’. We have grown to know that water is a fundamental right and every single person should have access to this resource; but we have not grown to understand the importance in terms of economic value and cost of this resource,” he highlighted.

“This is the key challenge that we will have to face as policy makers and persons who are implementing programmes and plans to tackle water issues,” he stressed.

He said it should be ensured that people understand the importance of this commodity, stating, “If we are to look at the importance of the water operators’ partnership in the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that would give us a basis on which we should develop our discourse and our ideas,” Ali stated.

“How are we in relation to the achievement of these goals?” the minister asked.

Guyana and the Caribbean are faced with the issue of not only having to address non-revenue water, but having to address the huge capital investment cost of aging infrastructure, he observed.

He added, “…so whilst a lot of countries are tackling the issue of non-revenue water, the developing countries have to tackle the issue from two frontiers – expanding the cost and the capital investment in aging infrastructure, and developing new infrastructure in the first instance, and secondly to ensure that you reduce the losses.”

Ali said in Guyana approximately 65 per cent of the water is lost, with 50 per cent considering to be operational losses and the other 15 per cent residential losses.

“We have been talking for a few years now and developing various strategies, but the problem still persists,” Minister Ali alluded.

He pointed out that the involvement of the local communities is critical in tackling this issue.

“It is estimated that if we in the developing world are to cut the non-revenue losses by 50 per cent, then we will have water available for another 90 million persons,” he disclosed.

“This is without any investment, just reducing the losses by 50 per cent in developing countries will make available water through the taps for an additional 90 million persons,” he repeated.

“These are things that are within the existing control of the utility services; but how are we going to achieve it? These are benchmarks. These are problems that have been identified not only today, but years ago; but we have been unable to tackle these issues holistically so we need to search for answers that are sustainable and answers that are cost effective,” he urged.

He said through the IDB in Guyana, a community based plan is being developed to tackle this issue.

He said under the new Canadian Development Bank and the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) Basic Needs Trust Fund’s (BNTF) Sixth Programme, much of the resources would be spent to reduce non-revenue water losses in Guyana.

Another important issue, Minister Ali pointed out, is an emergency management plan to deal with natural disasters.

He said, “In all of this – we have real disparities in terms of the price that people pay for water, sometimes because it is so highly subsidised, people do not really see the value of water.”

“If you look at the Caribbean, approximately $12US per month is the tariff people pay; in developing countries it is approximately $22US; in the developed world it is approximately $35US; and here in Guyana, it is approximately $4US,” he said.

Water Operators’ partnerships are being promoted as a response to the urgent need for collaboration between water and sanitation operators to increase efficiency, effectiveness and broader service delivery to all citizens.

The Global Water Operators’ Partnership Alliance is needed in order to facilitate and promote the building of partnerships to improve the performance of the public water and sanitation operators, and improve the prospect of meeting the water and sanitation targets related to the MDGs.

Among those present were President of the Caribbean Water and Wastewater Association, Mr. Cyprian Gibson; CDB Representative, Mr. Carlson Gough; and IDB Representative, Mr. Frederio Basanes, who all reiterated the importance of the issue and of establishing partnerships.