Maldives Country Paper

Transcription

1 7 th South Asian Conference on Sanitation (SACOSAN VII) April 2018, Islamabad, Pakistan Maldives Country Paper Mohamed Musthafa Ministry of Environment and Energy 1 Maldives Country Paper, SACOSAN 7, Islamabad, 2018

2 Introduction The Maldives is an archipelago formed into coral atolls scattered between N to S. The Maldives consists of about 1,192 small, low-lying coral islands which are grouped into 26 natural atolls, stretching over 860 km from north to south and 80 to 120 km from east to west. The elevation from MSL is 1.5 m and the highest natural point from MSL is 2 m. The Maldives enjoys a warm and humid tropical climate, with the weather mainly being dominated by two monsoon periods: the southwest monsoon (the wet season, from May to November); and the northeast monsoon (the dry period, from January to March). Annual rainfall over the country varies between mm per year, while average temperatures range from 25 C to 31 C. The population is 350,759 (2015 Census.). Life expectancy is at 73.8 years with infant mortality 9 per 1000 live births. As a Small Island Developing State, the Maldives faces significant economic, social and environmental challenges exacerbated by the impacts from climate change, vulnerability and high costs associated with the nature of SIDS. Despite challenges, the country has made substantial progress in eradicating poverty, achieving universal education and healthcare and providing access to safe water and improved sanitation. Policy and Strategies In an effort to accelerate the provision of water supply and sewerage services, the Government of Maldives has given strong emphasis in institutional reforms in the water supply and sanitation sector. The new National Water and Sewerage Policy (NWSP) structured on nine policy goals adopted in August 2017 is one of the key achievements in the sector reform. Water and Sewerage Act and subsequent regulations are also in the process of finalization. The NWSP with the sector vision is to develop, manage and ensure access to appropriate, sustainable, safe water 2 Maldives Country Paper, SACOSAN 7, Islamabad, 2018

3 supply and sewerage facilities for all. The policy is based on a holistic and sustainable approach to the management of water resources, sector development, and provision of water supply and sewerage services, while concurrently encouraging maximum participation of the stakeholders. The NWSP aims to bring private sector and the general public together in managing, conserving, and protecting the valuable water resources in order to satisfy our present needs as well as those of the future generations. The NWSP document is aligned with the Article 22: protection of the environment and 23: economic and social rights of the Constitution of Maldives and is consistent with the global and regional consensus embodied in Goal 6 of UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and other regional commitments. The policy proposes to adopt financially, technically and environmentally sustainable approaches to establish and deliver water and sewerage services for all. It also aims to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 6: Ensure Access to Clean Water and Sanitation for All. The nine policy goals focus and give priority to ensuring access to safe water and sewerage services for all, improve the sector through research, capacity building, and strengthening of the legal framework. The policy goals also seek to increase private sector participation, create awareness, protection and conservation, financial sustainability and develop appropriate water supply and sewerage system infrastructure. Institutional Arrangement The water and sewerage sector governance until 2005 was mandated at Ministry of Health regulated by Maldives Water and Sanitation Authority (MWSA). The water and sewerage mandate between 2005 and 2008 was at Ministry of Environment Energy and Water (MEEW) regulated by MWSA, which in 2009 changed into Ministry of Housing Transport and Environment (MHTE) regulated by Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). 3 Maldives Country Paper, SACOSAN 7, Islamabad, 2018

4 In 2012 MHTE was split into Ministry of Housing and Infrastructure (MHI) and Ministry of Environment and Energy (MEE). Water and Sanitation Department (WSD) formed within the Ministry of Environment and Energy has been key department responsible for the water and sanitation. It is responsible to build water and sanitation infrastructure in islands across the country along with formulation of policies, regulations, and standards related to water and sanitation sector governance. Water supply, sewerage system design, implementation of tariff and monitoring are the responsibility of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). EPA is functioning as a semi-autonomous institute under MEE. There are three water and sewerage utility companies namely Male Water and Sewerage Company (MWSC), Fenaka Cooperation (FENAKA) and State Electric Company (STELCO) in the country that provides water and sewerage services in the islands. In order for improving and enhancing sector governance Water and Sewerage Act along with subsequent regulations are in the process of its finalization. Capacity Development Sector based skill and capacity development has been a challenge due to lack of sector focused opportunities and resources. The sector as a whole is weak in terms of technical capacity in building infrastructure and to sustain the services, hence is subjected to depend on foreign engineers and contractors. As institutional and human resource capacity building greatly contributes to the improvement of building water supply and sewerage infrastructure and sustainable service delivery, strong emphasis is given in the new policy for institutional strengthening and capacity building. Tailor made training programs are being conducted for island based utility outlets for proper operation and maintenance of water supply and sewerage systems. Monitoring Monitoring mechanism still remains weak although it has been improving over the years. The Department of National Planning is responsible for Census and other national statistics and 4 Maldives Country Paper, SACOSAN 7, Islamabad, 2018

5 provides the necessary information for all the sectors. There is no separate mechanism established yet to monitor the progress in the sector. The sector is collaborating with UN agencies, such as WHO, UNICEF and other relevant donors to establish a national framework for the monitoring and planning of activities under the sector. In this regard, the sector has coordinative efforts with the national SDG unit, to develop national indicators to access the development and analyze the road map of the sector. The sector envisions the establishment of a WASH (Water and Sanitation Hygiene) Geographical Information System (GIS). Some preliminary works such as development of the framework for data entry has been established, which will incorporate all relevant water and sanitation data from the islands into one platform. The GIS system will help the sector in visualizing, questioning, analyzing, interpreting, and understanding data to reveal relationships, patterns, and trends in water and sewerage. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of Maldives is the regulator and enforcement authority for standards and regulations of water and sewerage facilities and services in Maldives, however due to non-existence of a legal framework; the sector faces a huge challenge in the enforcement and monitoring the procedures through legal jurisdiction. Water and Sanitation Act has been drafted and is in the process of finalization by the Attorney General s Office to be set for agenda in the Parliament for discussion and approval for enactment. Financing The provision of water and sewerage facilities to the islands of Maldives has been a costly commodity, due to the disperse nature of the archipelago and the high cost of construction, followed by the operation and maintenance of the infrastructure. The average cost of developing water supply and sewerage facility in an isolated island with population size is at USD4.5 million. The sector has seen massive progress since the beginning of 2014 in terms of investing for water supply and sewerage infrastructure. The development of these infrastructures mostly relies on external financing and from the national budget (public sector investment-psip), loans, grants, and development assistance and private sector investments. Our development partners including UNICEF, WHO, UNDP, UNEP and development banks/funds including IDB, 5 Maldives Country Paper, SACOSAN 7, Islamabad, 2018

6 OFID, Kuwait Fund, GCF, GEF and CCTF plays/played important role in the sector development Sanitation Sector Overview The sanitation sector is arbitrarily divided into two segments namely the inhabited islands and industrial sector. The capital of Maldives (Male City) is with island wide conventional sewerage system that is operational since Island wide sewerage work in outer islands for the first time has begun in early 90 s. The major industry where sanitation is widely covered is tourism industry. In tourist resorts the resort developer build and operate sewerage and sanitation facilities in each of the resort island on their own. Traditionally Maldivians used bush/beach for their excreta discharge. A designated area in the backyard of the house is also used for shallow burial of faeces. Brief but unsuccessful trials of other systems including ash latrines and sealed pit toilets were also constructed in the 1980s. Following the diarrheal epidemics in 1970 s and 1980 s, people started in building water based onsite sanitation systems. Until the introduction of small bore sewerage (simplified shallow gravity) systems in early 90 s defecation on beach//bush has been widely practiced among island communities. Sector Developments and Plans The government of Maldives gives a high priority to the well-being of its citizens. Hence, government is committed in improving access to safe water and sanitation for all. This sector has seen unprecedented level of development in recent years. There were only 6 islands including capital city Male with safe water supply system by end of The number of islands with piped water supply 6 Maldives Country Paper, SACOSAN 7, Islamabad, 2018

7 has increased from 6 islands to 21 islands, further 25 islands expected to be completed soon. This will increase the coverage of piped water supply systems from 25% percent to 65% percent of the entire Maldivian population. Similar achievements have also been made in the sanitation sector, where we are targeting to increase the coverage of adequate sewerage systems from 37% of the population to 76% of the population at the end of To this regard, since 2013, the government has established adequate sewerage networks in 21 islands, with work ongoing in a further 44 islands. In addition to the piped water supply system, the Government of Maldives initiated a special program in the year 2015 to upgrade community rainwater harvesting facilities to address the drinking water shortage in the islands. On average 70 islands requested for water every year in the last 6 years, with an average delivery of 4600 tons per year. With the new governance structure put in place in 2016 and as a result of the ongoing development works the number of islands requesting for water has significantly reduced to 31 islands with total of 1400 tons delivered. The government aims to significantly minimize frequent water shortage in island communities by the end of To achieve this target community rainwater harvesting facilities have been completed in 29 islands and work in a further 61 islands are in progress. Additionally, water desalination plants and storage facilities are being developed in 19 islands. Access to affordable clean water to all has been further ensured through introduction of a common water tariff for all domestic consumers across the nation starting from January Maldives Country Paper, SACOSAN 7, Islamabad, 2018

8 Gaps and Challenges Geography is characterized by small and scattered islands which make it difficult to provide, monitor and manage services effectively. Limited technical expertise to manage and implement sector programs and projects Existing financial resources are insufficient to meet the target of ensuring that all densely populated and development focused islands have adequate supplementary water sources and sewerage systems. Sanitation technologies that will provide sustainable protection of groundwater are costly and this is limiting their applications in small islands where the groundwater table is high. In many islands, extraction of groundwater exceeds the sustainable yield, which is accelerating saline water intrusion into freshwater aquifer. The existing cost-recovery mechanisms do not ensure the sustainability of services in the outer islands. Where desalination plants are provided, the high costs of producing safe water prevent full cost-recovery, thus requiring government subsidies. Lack of stakeholder participation in the design and monitoring of water and sewerage systems Limited water resources. There are practically no surface water sources. Rainwater and groundwater is the only conventional resources available and desalinated water and bottled water available as non-conventional sources Lack of capacity to respond in an emergency and in mitigating the impacts of climate change (water shortages during dry periods). Lack of capacity (financial, technical and human) in the private sector for a solid engagement in public-private partnership for the provision and management of water and sanitation services 8 Maldives Country Paper, SACOSAN 7, Islamabad, 2018