US-AEP Urban Program - USAID/INDONESIA WATER SECTOR SUCCESSES IN REACHING THE URBAN POOR

USAID believes that the best way to get water to the Indonesia’s urban poor is to upgrade the accountability and efficiency of local government institutions that are responsible for providing urban services to consumers.

Most of Indonesia’s 300 water enterprises have traditional state-owned enterprise problems: poor levels of service, inflated costs, and continuing deficits. Reformation and regional autonomy have provided a once-in-a-generation opportunity for water enterprises to listen to their poorest consumers’ needs, dialog with them, and establish
accountable management to respond to them. US-AEP and USAID share the vision of a critical mass of efficient Indonesian municipal water enterprises providing convenient and affordable piped water while achieving full cost recovery by the end of 2003. To achieve this vision,

• The WISE project helped enterprises listen to the poorest consumers’ needs.
• The WILD and WILLOWS projects facilitated dialog with poor and other community groups.
• The WEFT project enhanced professionalism.
• The WET project has led to accountable and efficient management to respond to the needs of the poorest and most neglected segments of the population.

In January 2002, US-AEP began support to the 8 months-long UPDATE (Urban Poor Data Acquisition and Technical Evaluation) project. The project will determine the actual cost of water to the urban poor who are not connected to the municipal system in three representative cities. UPDATE would provide local governments with the tools they need to locate and provide piped water to the urban poor. If the project is successful, tens of thousands of urban poor will pay less for cleaner and more convenient water.

WISE (Water Indicators for Satisfaction Evaluation)
October 1999-March 2000

Description: The US-AEP-assisted WISE project established an easy-to-use survey questionnaire and sampling/analysis technique enabling any one of Indonesia’s 300 water enterprises to determine with statistical accuracy the needs of consumers. The survey generally uses female college student enumerators, and the cost is no more than $400 per water enterprise.

Results:

• For the first time, the generally ignored and unheard urban poor were given an equal voice with other consumers.
• More than 30 water enterprises have used their own funds to conduct customer satisfaction surveys as a basis for long term planning.

Executing agency: The executing agency was the Ministry of Home Affairs.

WILD (Women's Institutions for Local Development)
June 2000-August 2001

Description: The US-AEP-assisted WILD (Women's Institutions for Local Development) projects were aimed at engaging local women's groups in Indonesia to strengthen the bond between municipal water enterprises and consumers, ultimately leading to the provision of better and more responsive public services to the poor. Through field visits to selected water enterprises, a team of female community organization specialists and trainers established a procedure to identify, contact, and motivate more than 100 local women's groups to register formal Water Conservation Forums associated with local water enterprises. Bridging the gap between the community and water enterprises, the forum members receive training and work on a voluntary basis to cooperate in community water-related education activities and provide feedback from the community.

Results:

• More than 100 volunteer local women's groups, including moderate Muslim groups, were identified and involved in the provision of piped water through 7 water forums. Under the follow-up initiative, the USAID-supported WILLOWS (Women's Institutions for Local Leveraging of Water Supply) project, 30 more forums will be established between October 2001 and May 2003. Eventually there will be more than 500 provincial women's groups, many of the representing poor consumers.
• The WILLOWS project is expanding an advocacy and outreach mechanism, including the production of media materials.

Executing agency: The executing agency was PERPAMSI (the Indonesian Water Supply Association) was the executing agency for the grant. GTZ, German Technical Cooperation, helped provide materials and field assistance to the first group of 7 water enterprises.

WEFT (Water Enterprise Functional Training)
December 2000-July 2001

Description: A team of Indonesian water curriculum experts prepared modules for a three-week long water enterprise directors’ management course to be offered on a cost-recovery basis. Due to recent decentralization reforms, a one-time input of up to 200 water enterprise directors (out of 300 nationwide) was expected in 2001/2002. The modules were designed to help new managing directors understand concepts of consumer orientation, accountability, community participation, and compliance with the new consumer protection law.

Results:

• In the first year, the amount of the WEFT grant, $20,000, leveraged training of 47 directors x $700 tuition = $32,900, paid by the water enterprises. The leverage will grow proportionately greater in subsequent years.
• For the first time in Indonesia, new water enterprise managing directors are receiving training to become water professionals before managing local governments' water supply assets.

Executing Agency: PERPAMSI (the Indonesian Water Supply Association) was the grantee, PERPAMSI's training arm, Yayasan Pendidikan Tirta Dharma, was executing agency for the grant. A training specialist and a trainer were provided from the USAID-assisted Local Government Water Services project.

WET (Water Efficiency Team)
October 15, 1998-September 30, 2000

Results:

• Implementation of WET recommendations allowed water enterprises to avoid interruption of service to urban poor, thereby enhancing public health and economic activity.
• A total of 590,000 beneficiaries, many of them in poor neighborhoods, are now enjoying piped clean water due to WET/LGWS recommendations.
• The WET project helped over 50 enterprises reduce costs and improve revenues by making recommendations on the financial, management, and technical aspects of the operation and maintenance of the water enterprise.
• The WET project saved local governments from having to pay subsidies amounting to $10 million.

Executing Agency: BAPPENAS was the executing agency. Consultants worked together with experts from the Indonesian Association of Sanitary and Environmental Engineers (IATPI), backstopped by the Water Environment Federation.