Financial Times

Red tape for international water specialists
'It's a great idea but we don't know how we can use you'. This has been the message that Carol Mulholland has been getting ever since she came to Sri Lanka on April 3.

Mulholland arrived from the United States to offer assistance in planning water and wastewater systems in post-tsunami work and was fully sponsored by the company she works for PA Consulting Group, international management consultants.

She was returning home on Friday disappointed that her mission had failed. But she was planning to return in May in the hope that the government would be more receptive or look for a private partner organisation.

The purpose of her visit was to meet officials, analyse the situation and see how her firm could work with a counterpart state agency. She had met with officials from the Urban Development Authority, the Coast Conservation Department and the Water and Drainage Board. But her mission was unsuccessful as government co-ordination was weak.

"It's clear that even if we put people (experts) on a plane tomorrow (and send them to Sri Lanka) the issue is that they could come and design a system, but there is no funding - according to local officials - to put the water systems into the housing," said Mulholland.

She said experts from Canadian and US facilities are willing to donate their time to help design water and wastewater systems in resettlement areas, as this particular area in the reconstruction process is very important. She said that no one would want to live in a house where there are no water and wastewater facilities; therefore the point of building these houses is lost.

The company is willing to work with NGOs or the private sector as it is committed to the region and very eager to lend support. Mulholland said they are focusing on the government at present, as the state is the main coordinator in relief efforts. "If (our efforts with the) government doesn't work out we'll look for other partners," she added.

The company is carrying out a similar project with the government in Indonesia, where the state effort seems to be coordinated better. It has been working in Sri Lanka with Environment Management Lanka since 2000, mainly in the power sector. Their last project in Sri Lanka was in 2002 with the ADB, offering technical support to the government energy supply committee on financial issues affecting the power sector.

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