 The following challenges are adversely affecting the realization of the goals and objectives of the NCWSP:
GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATIVE BUDGET SUPPORT Government support to the sub-sector in terms of budget for running cost of the Agency has been quite low over the years. For instance, in the 2004 fiscal year, government budgetary allocation was 12.5 billion out of 18 billion requested. In 2005, 5.7 billion was approved out of 13.6 billion while only 4.7 billion was approved out of 11.0 billion requested for 2006 fiscal year. This does not auger well for the smooth operations of the Agency, and needs to be addressed without any further delay. DISTRICTLEVEL IMPLEMENTION BOTTLENECKS In the assessment of the Agency and other Stakeholders, District Assembly (DA) support for the NCWSP leaves much to be desired. The DAs in many instances are not able to provide the needed logistic and financial support to District Water and Sanitation Teams (DWSTs). In cases where the DAs are expected to pay 5% as capital cost contribution towards the provision of the facility (ies), some of them are unable to do so. This delays project implementation in the situation where this is a prerequisite. PUBLIC PROCUREMENT ACT The Public Procurement Act(Act 663) has been adopted as a working instrument within the Public Sector. The various Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) are now learning the new procurement procedures. This affects the rate at which they do business with the Agency thus leading to delays and hold ups in project execution especially at the District Assembly level. WATER QUALITY There are a number of water quality issues plaguing the water delivery process. These include high iron, Fluoride and arsenic contents. A good number of drilled wells for instance have been capped especially in the Northern parts of the country due to high levels of fluoride found in these wells. DIFFICLT HYDRO GEOLOGICAL CONDITIONS The success rate of drilling is less than 40% in quite a number of areas across the country, especially as one move into the Volition Basin. This affects the delivery rate and the number of successful wells drilled particularly in the Northern parts of the country. In some places along the coast, there are areas of high salinity of the groundwater, especially where the water table is close to the sea bad. NON-CONFORMITY OF SOME NGOs TO THE NATIONAL STRATEGY Some Non-Governmental Organizations in the sector do not conform to the standards and guidelines set by Agency for the delivery of water sanitation facilities. Lt is difficult to monitor them because they are ubiquitous and remotely located. Close collaboration and support from the respective District Assemblies are required to mitigate this constraint. COMMUNITY CONTRIBUTION It has been very difficult for some of the communities, particularly the small towns, to raise their 5% contributions to capital cost of the facilities in previous years. This is because of the large capital outlay associated with the construction of small town water systems. PRIVATE SECTOR There exist an inadequate number of experienced private sector firms in the water and sanitation sector. In addition, the already established firms have limited capacity to cope with the ever-increasing demands from sector stakeholders and beneficiaries. These two together, militate against the delivery of facilities. |
