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The Addis Abeba Water and Sewerage Authority (AAWSA)
is struggling to find private financing to build two
new dams amid concern among foreign contractors over
the company's financial integrity.
AAWSA has been forced to seek private financing
after the city's administration decided against
supporting the plan to build dams along the Sibilu
and Gerbi rivers. AAWSA, which is building the dams
to help cover the capital city's water shortage, is
now asking several private engineering firms
interested in receiving the contract to use their
contacts overseas to find potential financiers. The
private firms, however, are worried AAWSA would fail
to repay a loan.
Among the foreign companies approached by AAWSA,
United States-based Black & Vetch Corporation, an
engineering, construction and consulting company,
criticised the structure and the operational
discipline at AAWSA during a recent meeting with
AAWSA officials. Previously, this company had also
participated in a series of negotiations with Seyoum
Desta, former general manager of AAWSA, who left
from his position five months ago.
Black & Vetch, founded in 1915 in Kansas City,
raised concerns about how the distribution of water
is heavily subsidized by the city administration and
about structural deficiencies that make efficient
management of the system impossible.
In particular, the company is suffering huge losses
due to water leaks in the mains and from water being
stolen at various points in the city.
Representatives from the US firm allege that
repayment of the loan would be difficult without
correcting such shortcomings.
Addis Abeba has had running water for more than 100
years now. However, half of the city's four million
inhabitants are still without proper service. The
city received large-scale water distribution only 10
years ago, and since then the city has focused on
procuring surface water supplies its residents.
Addis Abeba's main source for water comes from the
various dammed rivers that originate in the Oromia
region, but limited supplies in this area has left a
significant shortfall in the city's water system.
The combination of the two main dams, Legedadi and
Dire, contribute 150,000 cubic meters of potable
water per day, while Geferssa dam harvests 23,000
cubic meters each day. Since expansion and
rehabilitation projects are underway, Gefersa will
soon be able to collect an additional 7,000 cubic
meters of water, raising capacity to 30,000 cubic
meters of water, which was the dam's former capacity
before a lack of periodic maintenance reduced
flows.
Various points in the city providing surface and
spring water contribute an additional 10,000 cubic
meters, while surface water harvested from Akaki
area provides another 30,000 cubic meters of water.
From all these sources AAWSA fetches about 213,000
cubic meters of water per day in an effort to cut
the thirst of four million inhabitants in the city.
In fiscal year of 2006, AAWSA from the different
sources managed to distribute 226,850 cubic meters
every day.
The city has registered use of 68.7ltr per person,
which is well below the per capita consumption of
other cities in Sub-Saharan Africa, which on average
consume about 100ltr a day per person.
Having been motivated by the possibility of
utilizing the water resource that the city is
endowed with, AAWSA planned to build dams on Sibilu
and Gerbi rivers with the desire to harvest drinking
water for 30 years in the city. However, the project
was scrapped due to a lack of financing.
From 1900 to 1930, the residents of Addis Abeba
received potable water free from fees. The first
time water meters were installed to charge customers
in Addis Abeba, water cost 0.50 cents per cubic
meter. This fee remained in place for the next 57
years without any readjustment, much to the pleasure
of residents.
By 2003, AAWSA set a new tariff for water
consumption and the new tariff has remained
effective to date.
However, let alone to cover the project cost
required for the city water, AAWSA cannot be able to
cover the operation cost and is subsidised by the
city administration. The second problem is
structural, and four years ago the management of
AAWSA proposed to run its own administration
independently like the Ethiopian Telecommunications
Corporation (ETC) and Ethiopian Electric Power
Corporation (EEPCo).
Neither the former city administration under the
watch of Arkebe Oqubay nor the current caretaker
administration of Brehane Deressa has considered the
proposal from AAWSA.
The problem of leakage has significantly diminished
AAWSA ability to distribute clean water to the city
residents. According to a statistics available at
AAWSA, in 2005/2006, out of the total running water
on distribution line, 35pc is wasted along the way
due to leakage caused by damages of the pipes. An
illegal diverting of the water pipes to customs that
are not paying has also been depriving legitimate
customers their share of water.
The same source of information originated from AAWSA
indicates that the absence of periodic inspection
and repairing of the pipes has contributed to the
losses of drinking water.
An official at AAWSA admitted that the problems
pointed out by the foreign companies had been
identified well before their involvement; however,
the root cause of all these issues is the lack of
finance.
The other problem that AAWSA faces is that where the
surface water originates there is serious
environmental degradation that causes the eroded
soil to fill up the water and clog the dams. The
expansion of agricultural activities coupled by the
use of chemical fertilizer poses a threat to the
safety of consumers as well. Therefore, the cost of
using chemical to clean water would is rather higher
and this fact by itself is a growing challenge for
the Authority.
The surprising factor of this situation is that the
city administration has not included in its 2007
budget of the five years strategic plan to address
the multifaceted problems AAWSA faces.
The city administration in the end of the budget
year 2006 brought the level up to 226,850 million
cubic meter annual consumption of water in the city
and has desired to increase the consumption by
445,685 million cubic meters annually that would
jump by 50pc before the end of the current year.
Considering the effort to utilize surface water and
the expansion of Geferssa as well as the
rehabilitation of Legadadi both of which projects
are undergoing, the wastage of water in the city
would be reduced down to 25pc from 35pc. Without
preventing the water sources from catchments and
utilizing the Sibilu and Gerbi as well as finding
the means by which to produce chemical locally for
cleaning and treating drinking water, the challenge
to meet the objective would be tougher, an expert
told Fortune.
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