Evolution of Water Goverence in Maldives

It is a commonly held belief in the water industry that the Water prowater-crisis-347blem is not a water resource limitation issue, rather is is one of ill Governance!

Institutional systems are at the center of water management. Social structure, governmental policies, choice of technologies and individual water habits all bear influence. However, wrong distribution of resources and authoritarian centralism have made effective water governance difficult.

The 80 saw Male’ with groundwater depleted, well water contamination having wave after wave of   cholera, shigella or diarrhea spreading among the population.

Realizing the need for efficient water service, the Maldives  government acted quickly to separate the two functions held within the Water and Sanitation Authority by forming two separate institutions, Male’ Water and Sanitation Authority  as regulator and Male’ Water and Sewerage Company Pvt Ltd holding a monopoly concession for 20 year commercial operation of water  services,   as water operator with both overseen by the Ministry of Health/Environment.

Perhaps it was the highly  reliable   24×7 services  being  provided by the water operator that GOM shifted its focus from Male’  to the outer  islands.

Meanwhile the water company’s strategic direction being shaped under the influence of  the heavy weight of the Manager   pursued a strategy that centered around an IRR requirement, not fully realizing the risk and share being held by the customers.

This makes one ask about the role of the  board? corporate governance, corporate social responsibility? these questions will pave  leaning pathways that will be useful for current and future mangers of essential utility services of a country. (to be continued)

Corruption in India and Anna Hazare Movement

advericundiam

A new word has been added to our country’s people’s vocabulary – “Corruption”. Until recently it was said that “Indians care only about 2 things: Cricket and Movies”, now there is a third one “Corruption”, thanks to Anna Hazare’s Anti-Corruption movement and the media coverage it acquired.

Wikipedia defines corruption, in philosophical terms as “spiritual or moral impurity or deviation from an ideal”. In economy, corruption is payment for services or material which the recipient is not due, under law. But the type of corruption which Anna’s campaign is against and popular among the masses is “Political and administrative Corruption”, which is again defined in the Wikipedia as “the abuse of public power, office, or resources by elected government officials for personal gain, e.g. by extortion, soliciting or offering bribes”. Though many of us commit the first type of corruption i.e “Philosophical Corruption”, we often ignore…

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Corruption is set to become one of the defining political issues of the 21st century

Oromian Economist

The Corruption Pandemic

Corruption has played a pivotal role in determining the current state of the world – from mass poverty in developing countries, to the destruction of natural resources and to the erosion of trust in political parties. Laurence Cockcroft here argues that corruption has to be seen as the result of the interplay between elite ’embedded networks’, greed and organised crime.  He shows how the growth of corruption has been facilitated by globalization, the integration of new and expanding markets into the world economy, and by the rapid expansion of  ‘offshore’ financial facilities. These facilities provide a home to largely unregulated pools of finance derived from personal fortunes, organised crime and pricing malpractice in international trade. By identifying the main drivers of corruption world-wide and analyzing the current action to control them, this study suggests ways in which the problems caused by corruption can be addressed and ultimately…

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A voice against corruption in water and sanitation – community video in India

Water Integrity Network blog

Written by Alexandra Malmqvist, Communications Coordinator at WIN. 

In September 2011, in the slum of Mumbai, the heavy monsoon rains were filling up sewage pipes to breakage point. The dirty waste from the burst pipes flooded the streets at an accelerated pace because of the continuous and strong rain pour. The residents of the slum had no choice but to walk those filthy streets which represented a serious health hazard and increased the spread of diseases. Demands had repeatedly been made by the residents for the pipes to be fixed and properly maintained but no action was taken.

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A voice against corruption in water and sanitation – community video in India

Water Integrity Network blog

Written by Alexandra Malmqvist, Communications Coordinator at WIN. 

In September 2011, in the slum of Mumbai, the heavy monsoon rains were filling up sewage pipes to breakage point. The dirty waste from the burst pipes flooded the streets at an accelerated pace because of the continuous and strong rain pour. The residents of the slum had no choice but to walk those filthy streets which represented a serious health hazard and increased the spread of diseases. Demands had repeatedly been made by the residents for the pipes to be fixed and properly maintained but no action was taken.

View original post 455 more words

How the Human Right to Water and Sanitation gives a new drive for water integrity

Water Integrity Network blog

This blog entry was written by Daniel Nordmann, GIZ trainee seconded to the Water Integrity Network in September and October 2012.

The daily reality of most of the Kenyans living in the Mathare slum, on the outskirts of Nairobi, is one of informal water supply, where prices, quality and reliability of the water are not ensured. The lack of sanitation facilities forces people to resort to “flying toilets”, plastic bags used for defecation which are thrown into ditches, or to use an open field as a “public toilet”. This is not only the daily life of the residents of Mathare, but it is also the reality for many of the one billion slum dwellers around the globe. To tackle this problem, the United Nations General Assembly has declared access to Water and Sanitation a Human Right in 2010.

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Watercare

The World is Hungry Because We are Thirsty: Greeting from the  organizers of the Bonaqua Water Day Kids Event, an extension of World Water Day 2012 Activities held in Hulhumale Children’s Park near HDC on 6th April 2012 @16:00-18:00.

Every day is a Water Day for those of us at WaterCare. The water voice of the young girl  still ringing clear in our  ears on the importance of  economizing and protecting water for health, let us thank the Officials and volunteers who made it happen.

Our Volunteer team of Officials (Aru, Nishama, Jenny, Shamun, Humaid) were terrific. WAAOW! They pulled  together. Thanks Lai for your invaluable support and Guidance.

Fathun, Zak and Rasma and team,  you were wonderful! For the Children and their parents, thanks for coming. We hope that you enjoyed the WWD Kids Activities and learned about water security as well.

A pleasant surprise when Mody dropped by …

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Hello WaterCare Volunteers!

The World is Hungry Because We are Thirsty: Greeting from the  organizers of the Bonaqua Water Day Kids Event, an extension of World Water Day 2012 Activities held in Hulhumale Children’s Park near HDC on 6th April 2012 @16:00-18:00.

Every day is a Water Day for those of us at WaterCare. The water voice of the young girl  still ringing clear in our  ears on the importance of  economizing and protecting water for health, let us thank the Officials and volunteers who made it happen.

Our Volunteer team of Officials (Aru, Nishama, Jenny, Shamun, Humaid) were terrific. WAAOW! They pulled  together. Thanks Lai for your invaluable support and Guidance.

Fathun, Zak and Rasma and team,  you were wonderful! For the Children and their parents, thanks for coming. We hope that you enjoyed the WWD Kids Activities and learned about water security as well.

A pleasant surprise when Mody dropped by  adding  a final touch with  the entertainment of his Beat box art  needed to electrify the kids who had energy to spent, ready for a bit of  voice box teasing. Mody’s powerful voice, often  singing, at times imitating a full rock band with intermittent sound of machine gun and sniper fire, to the delight of young electronic gamers in the gathering who had a few  acts up their sleeves to show, as well

In the mean time some of the other  kids went on with  water games:  water foot print quiz, solving the water security jigsaw puzzle with  face painting for the younger, against the back drop of the  art work of “children give water a voice ” international art competition (for which students  participation was manged by WaterCare  on the occasion of  world water day 2011)  and photos of student participants who took part in the Water Integrity Photo Contest arranged by Water Integrity Network, an International NGO based in Stockholm  for world water day 2011. We do not have words to thank EDC and Soodha, in particular for  support and guidance for participating in the international water integrity art and photo competitions. Last but not lease we thank  Bonaqua for selecting Water Care to organise this event to mark the World Water Day this year.

When the  function ended at 18:00. the kids left for home with their families taking with them  knowledge which   hopefully will enrich their  lives for water is a human right; and we depend on our youth and children to facilitate water safety for generations to come.

 

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by:  WaterCare working for water integrity advocating this years WWD  theme  “water for food security”; the world is hungry because we are thirsty”.