1. Building Water Utilities with Local Private Entrepreneurs : The Example of the Mirep Program in Cambodia 2000-2010
- Author
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Mahe, Jean Pierre
- Subjects
COMPETITIVE BIDDING ,LOCAL WATER ,RIVERS ,PUMPING ,WATER CONSUMPTION ,COMMUNITY WELL ,DRAINAGE ,BOREHOLES ,WATER REGULATION ,RAINWATER COLLECTION ,ACCESS TO DRINKING WATER ,ABUNDANCE OF WATER ,ACCESS TO SAFE DRINKING WATER ,USE OF WATER ,PROGRAMS ,ACCESS TO WATER SUPPLY ,WATER SOURCES ,PUBLIC WATER SUPPLY ,BACTERIOLOGICAL QUALITY ,RURAL WATER SUPPLY ,RAINFALL ,COMMUNITY WATER ,SMALL TOWN WATER SUPPLY ,CONSTRUCTION ,EFFLUENT ,SMALL RURAL TOWNS ,DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS ,WATER SUPPLY SERVICE ,LOCAL PRIVATE SECTOR ,PERFORMANCE INDICATORS ,CATCHMENTS ,SERVICE PROVIDERS ,WATER TARIFF ,WATER POLICY ,WATER INFRASTRUCTURE ,WATER TREATMENT ,WATER TREATMENT FACILITIES ,WATER TARIFFS ,COMMUNITY SYSTEMS ,FARMERS ,WATER POINTS ,HARDNESS ,POND WATER ,CUBIC METER ,SERVICE DELIVERY ,NATIONAL WATER SUPPLY ,WELLS ,PUBLIC WATER ,COVERING ,PIPES ,INDIVIDUAL CONNECTIONS ,QUALITY STANDARDS ,WATERS ,CONCESSION CONTRACTS ,INVESTMENT COST ,POLLUTION ,QUALITY OF WATER ,SANITATION ,PUBLIC UTILITIES ,SURFACE WATER ,POLITICS OF WATER ,SANITATION SECTOR ,SERVICE PROVIDER ,TUBE WELLS ,SANITATION UTILITIES ,PATHOGENS ,WATER COLLECTION ,WATER SERVICES ,WATER SYSTEM ,RAIN ,WATER SUPPLIES ,DRINKING WATER ,HUMAN WASTE ,MANAGEMENT OF WATER ,PRIVATE WATER SUPPLY ,WATER FEES ,RURAL VILLAGES ,POTABLE WATER SUPPLY ,PUBLIC WATER UTILITY ,COST RECOVERY ,WASHING ,TURBIDITY ,WATER SUPPLY SERVICES ,WELL WATER ,DRINKING WATER SUPPLY ,WATER SECTOR ,WATER SUPPLY SYSTEM ,SEEPAGE ,TARIFF REGULATION ,PIPE ,PRIVATE PARTICIPATION ,OPERATIONAL FUNCTIONS ,DOMESTIC WATER ,GROUNDWATER ,INVESTMENT PLANNING ,RESPONSIBILITY FOR WATER ,ENGINEERING ,DOMESTIC WATER USE ,WATER STORAGE ,LOCAL ENTREPRENEURS ,MANGANESE ,RAINWATER ,MANAGEMENT OF WATER SUPPLY SERVICES ,SHALLOW WELLS ,OPERATIONAL COSTS ,LOW INCOME CUSTOMERS ,WATER NEEDS ,IRRIGATION ,SALINITY ,DUG WELLS ,WATER SUPPLY DEMAND ,WATER SALES ,SMALL RURAL VILLAGES ,IRON ,OPERATION OF WATER SUPPLY ,PUBLIC COMPANY ,ALUMINUM ,DRINKING WATER QUALITY ,FINANCIAL VIABILITY ,MANAGEMENT OF WATER SUPPLY ,REGULATORY FRAMEWORK ,WATER SUPPLIERS ,ACCESS TO SERVICES ,DRILLED WELLS ,COLIFORM BACTERIA ,LARGER TOWNS ,WATER SYSTEMS ,HOUSEHOLDS ,PUBLIC HEALTH ,INVESTMENT COSTS ,POTABLE WATER ,RIVER WATER ,METERING ,LOCAL SERVICES ,SERVICE PROVISION ,OPERATIONAL ASPECTS ,URBAN WATER ,RURAL WATER ,METEOROLOGY ,HOME WATER SUPPLY ,PRESSURE ,WATER SERVICE ,WATER SUPPLY PROJECTS ,LOCAL AUTHORITIES ,PIPED WATER ,PRIVATE PARTICIPATION IN WATER ,SMALL TOWN WATER ,WATER PRESSURE ,URBAN WATER SUPPLY ,MARSH ,WATER LOSS ,WATER UTILITIES ,COMMUNITY WELLS ,WATER QUALITY ,WATER SUPPLY SYSTEMS ,WATER SUPPLY ,TARIFF SETTING ,WATER USE ,PRIVATE OPERATORS ,PROFIT MARGIN ,SANITATION INFRASTRUCTURE ,PONDS ,ACCESS TO WATER ,COLLECTION SYSTEMS ,LEAK DETECTION ,POPULATION DENSITY ,SMALL TOWN ,WATER RESOURCES ,URBAN AREAS ,SMALL TOWNS ,LAUNDRY ,LOCAL STAKEHOLDERS - Abstract
The involvement of the rural private sector in water supply in Cambodia is unique to the country. The presence of this private sector allows other entities to respond to new demands from people living in the larger villages for household water supply, which the State is not yet able to address. These entrepreneurs operate on a merchant basis, lacking an institutional structure which is still being created. Their business is most often based on pushcart delivering water barrels at the house of villagers or more recently on small piped networks usually distributing raw surface water. Service is rough; the water quality is uncertain, but the users are satisfied with this service, because for them, it constitutes another alternative to the already considerable choice of water supplies available-ponds, wells, boreholes, and rivers. Their demands focus more on a practical objective (a supply in the household) than on a sanitary one, even if surveys show that villagers have a good understanding of health risks associated with water. Through the implementation of 14 small scale water supply systems, the goal was to enhance a qualitative improvement of the water service in some Cambodian small towns through the transformation of rough and informal merchant services to a basic water service supplying drinking water to an extended population under a formal institutional arrangement. The MIREP (Mini Reseaux d'Eau Potable - Small Scale Piped Water Supply System) program, launched in 2001 to transform these very basic initiatives into basic services, began as a pilot project supporting one entrepreneur in the implementation of a small piped water system. In order to move forward, the MIREP program made a choice, in particular linked to its proximity to the Ministry of rural development, to assist the nascent involvement of communes in decentralization, to strengthen provincial power through the process of decentralization, and to respect the cultural heritage of those who devised and financed the project.
- Published
- 2010