バングラデシュの村落給水施設の住民による協同管理は可能か : ケアテイカーシステムの有効性と水利用者の参画可能性の検討

Rural areas of Bangladesh face safe water supply challenges. In addition to traditional hard infrastructural issues related to design and construction, such challenges are caused by soft infrastructural issues like the underdevelopment of the institutional system required for the adequate operation and maintenance (O&M) of infrastructure. This paper aims to analyze the caretaker system for O&M that has been widely adopted in the rural areas of Bangladesh and to discuss the possibility of co-managing O&M activities between caretakers and other water users. Interviews were conducted to investigate the awareness and perceptions of caretakers and water users in Gazipur, Khulna, and Chattogram districts, as well as that of the Department of Public Health Engineering (DPHE) personnel. DPHE is the government agency responsible for water supply services in rural Bangladesh. From the institutional system perspective as defined by DPHE, caretakers bear full responsibility for the O&M of their water supply facilities. However, many caretakers do not conduct comprehensive or sufficient O&M activities due to a lack of awareness and technical capacity, as well as financial limitations. As an on-the-ground response to this situation, some caretakers expressed a willingness to co-manage their facilities with other water users. This trend is especially prevalent for “alternative water supply options,” defi ned in this study as arsenic iron removal units and small-scale piped water supply systems. In addition, 38% of the target water supply facilities under this study were used by different gushuti (extended paternal families), particularly in the case of alternative water supply options. The results of this study indicate that the following factors can be correlated with whether a caretaker would choose to adopt a co-management system; 1) whether the water supply facility is being used by multiple gushutis, 2) the complexity of the required O&M activities, and 3) the cost burden of the O&M activities. Further, this study identifi ed the limitations of the on-the-ground responses. DPHE has not fully established the institutional structures necessary to support the caretakers and other water users. Such structures could include setting clear regulations, exchanging documents and information, building consensus, and providing technical support for the ownership, hand-over, and O&M activities of the water supply facilities. Official collaboration and establishing protocols among DPHE, caretakers, and other water users are required to strengthen implementation of O&M activities and solve facility-level technical problems. One potential solution for the cost burden issue is tariff collection, which is a shared responsibility between caretakers and other water users. Many water user both caretaker and other water users interviewees indicated a willingness to pay, although the amount they proposed was quite low compared to that identified in other studies. In situations in which water tariff interventions had been made by donors, the amount users were willing to pay tended to be higher. This implies that it may be possible to collect water fees from users if awareness is raised.