2008: International Sanitation Year
Plan Tanzania shows how to build sustainable latrines using on the spot resources
A lack of safe drinking water is an everyday problem for more than one billion people. And almost 40 percent of the world’s population does not have access to basic sanitary facilities. In Tanzania, too, a large part of the population does not have clean toilets, good sewer systems and personal hygiene. In International Sanitation Year Royal Haskoning is working with Plan International and Plan Tanzania on a new, sustainable approach to the realization of sanitary facilities: Community-Led Total Sanitation.
This latest approach was developed in Bangladesh and then used successfully elsewhere in the world. Crown Prince Willem Alexander of the Netherlands praised it during his visit to Indian water and sanitation projects at the end of last year. The aim of the approach is to motivate the local population to such an extent that the entire village—using their own resources—gets together to build sustainable sanitary facilities for everyone. This could involve building latrines or sinking a well and perhaps constructing a simple water system linked to it.
Combining strengths
Royal Haskoning supplies knowledge, experience and time for Plan Tanzania’s water and sanitation programme in Western Tanzania. ‘With Aqua for All (a joint venture by the Dutch water sector for development aid) Royal Haskoning and other consultancy firms give free advice to organizations like Plan International that are trying to implement water and sanitation programmes in the third world,’ explains hydraulic engineer Berend van Bon of Royal Haskoning. ‘Our combined objective is to supply the villages in certain regions with an efficient water supply and sustainable latrines. But the latest approach has changed considerably. We’ve learned that you don’t help the population by just giving them a bagful of money. It pays to train people to manage project money, maintenance and village development—to do far more for themselves—by getting them to understand that self-reliance and building latrines themselves is an investment in their own future. Good health for them and for their children.’ And with that he reveals the project’s Achilles heel. Because where do the villagers get the money from? And how do you motivate them to put the small amount of money they do have into facilities like these?
Essential
‘Two essential questions play a role in whether or not this project succeeds,’ continues Berend van Bon. ‘How do you guarantee the quality of the latrines that are built so that they make an effective contribution to better sanitation and health? And how are you going to finance everything? One solution could lie in the provision of a micro-credit (for small independents) or a meso-credit (for and from medium and small businesses), in order to make it possible for the villagers to buy the materials they need. However identifying exactly what can—and, as importantly, can’t—be done and finding the right sponsors takes considerable organization. So it has been agreed that the people from Plan Tanzania are going to come up with a workable plan themselves. After all they know the local situation best. Royal Haskoning has promised to advise on the execution of this plan—once it’s been put together—in the second part of the project.’
Contactpersoon: Frederik Mabesoone
+31 (0)24 3284 289
f.mabesoone@royalhaskoning.com
