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Int’l consultants, NGOs to help assess KWSB’s performance

Staff Report

KARACHI: The Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB) will distribute Citizen Report Cards (CRC) in nine towns to determine consumer satisfaction regarding its services. The survey will be conducted in mid-November and would be organized by Panos Pakistan in collaboration with the Water and Sanitation Programme South Asia (WSP-SA) under financial assistance of the World Bank.

This was stated by Panos Pakistan Country Representative Sahar Ali in an informal meeting with journalists held Monday at a local hotel to highlight the role and process of the CRC survey. The meeting was attended by WSP-SA Senior Institutional Development Specialists Syeda Maheen Zehra and coordinator Farhan Anwar.

“The KWSB has formed an advisory committee comprising four senior officials of the board and five representatives of civil society organisations, including Shehri, IUCN- the World Conservation Union and Urban Resource Centre (URC), to monitor the survey,” she said.

The process will be supervised by Dr Gopakumar K Thampi, a renowned Indian researcher who has vast experience in the field and has conducted various CRC surveys in Bangalore, India under the Public Affairs Foundation. “Dr Gopakumar will visit the city in the next couple of weeks and CRC documents will be prepared under his supervision to focus on the local scenario,” she said.

Ali explained that in the first phase, which will be started mid-November, the survey would be conducted in Malir, Bin Qasim, Gulshan, Orangi, Keamari, Saddar, Gulberg, Nazimabad and Site towns where 500 households each will be surveyed to determine the situation.

Coordinator WSP-SA Farhan Anwar said the CRC survey will be conducted in the city for the first time and people would be asked questions on their doorsteps. They will have the power to determine the level of service provided by the KWSB. During his presentation, he spoke about the purposes and stages of CRC and its importance in establishing the status of civic facilities provided by local governments. He said the process will take five to six months.

PPI adds: Syeda Maheen Zehra of the WSP-SA said that she had seen whole localities getting water without paying for it. “On the other hand, we know about areas buying water via the tanker mafia and not getting clean water. The purpose of the CRC would be to streamline the water utility and provide formal platform for the public to voice their constructive criticism.”

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