The Lilongwe Water Board is the sole water supply authority in Malawi’s capital city. However, its service suffered from inadequate response to system and community problems and lack of transparency in water billing. In response to a request for assistance from the community, WaterAid Malawi developed a strategic partnership with the Lilongwe Water Board, aimed at improving management of water services in unplanned low-income neighbourhoods.
An [April 2008] paper from WaterAid Malawi describes its partnership with the Lilongwe Water Board and a local non-governmental organisation – the Centre for Community Organization and Development (CCODE).
WaterAid research indicated that the system to distribute water through water kiosks was not working. Poor households owed huge sums to the Lilongwe Water Board – the monopoly water provider. They were paying far too much: prices at communal kiosks in low-income areas were twice as high as those in high-income areas. Charging systems were inconsistent and billing was not transparent. Some households paid equal monthly fees for different levels of consumption while others were paying per bucket.
Political and traditional leaders corruptly controlled kiosk management committees and failed to pass on funds they collected from communities to the Lilongwe Water Board. The private operators who were able to pay their utility bills resold water to poor people at high and unregulated tariffs. Many meters were vandalised but even those still working were often not read for over a year. The water board charged customers for estimated, not actual, consumption. Without consultation with users, the utility factored in arrears into water bills to cover money misused by community leaders.
Further problems included: illegal installation of boreholes, failure to check water quality, dependence of on unsafe sources when kiosks were disconnected, high leakage rates
[Following a reform programme] the utility now regards itself as a public service provider with obligations to consult users and to extend the network to unserved communities, while also embracing private sector principles to improve the efficiency of billing, debt collection and reduction of water losses.
Reform has also involved:
- establishing a focal point within the Lilongwe Water Board to whom community kiosk users could take their grievances: the Kiosk Management Unit regulates prices and promotes timely reporting of faults and prompt action to fix them
- WaterAid providing technical and financial advice and funding to rehabilitate communal water kiosks, replace meters, construct meter boxes and improve drainage facilities at kiosks
- building CCODE’s capacity to mobilise communities’ capacities to identify kiosk management options, settle debts, monitor the utility and promote hygiene education.
Source: id21, 01 March 2009
