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Financing an end to Georgian city water crisis |
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Kutaisi, Georgia’s second-largest city, has gone through a lot of political uncertainty in its 4000 year history. Modern times have not brought it any greater stability: the city changed mayors five times between 2005 - 2006. Giga Chogovadze is the current mayor of Kutaisi and he’s lasted longer than his recent predecessors. Eight months in the job and he counts as many problems as cigarettes smoked. In particular the Mayor cannot forget that Kutaisi, a city that has seen many foreign invasions and survived all, is now on its knees. There isn’t enough water to meet local needs and breakdowns in water and sewage pipes have led to disease outbreaks. In February 2005, the city was left without water for five long days following damage to the central water supply line. A state of emergency was declared in Kutaisi and the army was mobilised to distribute water to hospitals and homes. News bulletins briefed citizens that the water shortage was temporary and everything would return to normal once the authorities replaced old locking equipment on pipelines directing distribution of water into the five main sections of the city. In need of rehabilitation “It took two days to conclude that the old equipment could no longer be used. It is expensive equipment and you cannot just throw it away. And then an extra three days to remove it and replace it,” says Zurab Bochoidze, Chief Engineer of the Kutaisi Water and Wastewater Company. Today the massive locking equipment rests in a corner of the water company’s office garden as a remembrance of the past. The Mayor now worries about preventing similar disasters in future. Above all, the goal is to have water running in the homes of Kutaisi’s 185,000 citizens for more than three hours every second or third day as is currently the case. An EBRD loan of €3 million, a €4.2 million grant from the US Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) and another grant of €2.8 million from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) will now help rehabilitate Kutaisi’s water network. Water non-stop “I have a dream,” says the Mayor of Kutaisi, “to provide 24-hour water service to my citizens.” The Mayor shares his dream with Mr Bochoidze who adds that “the water transmission network was designed in 1988 with an eight-year guarantee. It has now badly deteriorated and rehabilitation is the only solution if we are to achieve 24-hour supply.” But the hurdles to realising this goal are daunting. Rehabilitation is too expensive to be carried out by the company alone, which is already overburdened with debt; of the 8,000 litres of water that enter the city water system every hour, about 48 per cent is lost through leaks because of old equipment; and, only 30 per cent of the city’s water consumption is currently being billed. Even if buyers were able to pay for 24-hour water service, the company would fail to meet that demand due to the dilapidated water network. The saga of old equipment goes on. Wastewater flows untreated in the River Rioni and Black Sea because there are no treatment facilities. The 2004 Kutaisi Environmental Report linked water and sewage pipe failures in certain parts of the city with outbreaks of water-borne diseases, particularly diarrhoea and hepatitis A, in those districts. Says Kutaisi’s Mayor: “We are very serious about developing the city and the loan will help us tackle its most important problem: water. Can you imagine any investment in the city if there is no water?” “The project is about improving access and delivery of basic services to the people of Kutaisi. It also improves the environment through better treatment of wastewater,” says Paul Covenden of the EBRD’s Municipal and Environmental Infrastructure Team. The loan does more than just deliver water to citizens. For example, an environmental study was first carried out to confirm that the current water source was the best technical option. The EU Environmental Joint Programme financed this study. An audit of Kutaisi’s Water Company and staff training to help put municipal services on a commercial footing are being covered by the Early Transition Countries fund, which EBRD donors set up in 2004. “This is the first case in Georgia of co-operation between a small municipality, EBRD, SIDA and MCC, and it will set an example for similar projects in the future,” says Mr Covenden. And Kutaisi is not the only city to benefit. The EBRD will also lend €2.5 million to the city of Poti in a project that includes investment grants from SIDA, MCC and the EU Water Initiative. In addition, the ETC fund will cover costs of consultants needed to implement the project. The city of Poti on Georgia's Black Sea coast is a strategic Caucasus port and trade route. As in Kutaisi, the citizens of Poti suffer from inadequate water supply. Its 45,000 citizens will benefit from the extension of the city’s water transmission pipeline to a cleaner, more reliable source. Thanks to good pressure at the Grouli water source, the company will be able to ensure 24-hour supply without relying on electricity or alternative fuels. The loan will also help to install meters in all households as a basis for improving payment collection. And when the water finally runs non-stop, citizens of Kutaisi and Poti will at last scrap the numerous water tanks that adorn their apartment roofs. They will also bid farewell to the aged wells that currently serve as the main source of water for many of the city’s houses.
By Marjola Xhunga, an EBRD communications adviser
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