The World Bank, acting as administrator for the Global Partnership on Output-Based Aid (GPOBA), has approved a grant of US$5.08 million to increase access to domestic sanitation for low-income households.
The grant will subsidize the cost of improved access to sanitation services for households located in areas around Colombo, where the National Water Supply & Drainage Board (NWSDB) manages sanitation services. An estimated 13,100 households or 65,500 people are expected to benefit from new connections to networked sewerage; and another 2,300 households or 11,500 people from improvements to existing on-site sanitation systems, the Bank said in a statement this week.
The main innovation of the OBA approach is to link the payment of pre-agreed unit subsidies to the actual delivery of “outputs” -- in this case access to improved sanitation services. OBA is also pro-poor and uses targeting, typically by income or geography, to ensure that subsidy payments help those who need it most. In this case, the targeting is geographic and a number of low-income areas have been identified in Ja-Ela/Ekala, Ratmalana, Moratuwa, Kolonnawa, and Dehiwela/Mount Lavinia.
This innovative output-based scheme will help the effort to respond to high household demand for sanitation services in Greater Colombo,” said Diarietou Gaye, World Bank Country Director for Sri Lanka. Improving access to sanitation services for low-income households also supports the Government of Sri Lanka’s work to meet its Millennium Development Goals on water and sanitation.”
Although Sri Lanka has achieved lower middle income status, there is still a need to increase access to improved sanitation services for some. For poor households living on a monthly income of US$150, the cost of connection to the sewer network (US$250 to US$350 per household) remains a barrier to access. Grant funding from GPOBA will bridge the gap between what users can realistically afford to pay and the actual cost of connection:
GPOBA will pay a subsidy for new connections to the sewer network, ranging from US$100 to US$419 per household depending on the type of connection provided; and an average subsidy of US$313 for households eligible for improvements to existing on-site santation services.
Households will contribute a reduced access fee of US$30 for new connections; or US$1 per month for 15 months (through the water bill) for existing on-site improvements. |
E-mail
