Responsible Leadership and Responsive Citizens for Sustainable and Integrated Urban Sanitation Initiatives
Faridpur City
THE successful Faecal Sludge Mangement (FSM) implementation largely depends on the responsiveness of the citizens towards the initiatives of the leaders. This both-way leaders-citizens relationship is important to make this system sustainable. It is well captured from success story of Faridpur City in Bangladesh. Social mobilisation campaign was conducted in this city, targeting all segments of population to make everyone aware, sensitise, and responsive regarding safe management of faecal waste and individual’s law abiding role, elected representatives and municipal authorities have been taken public oaths to stop illegal sewage connections, and different social influential groups – civil society organisations, teachers, business community, religious leaders, and government officials are sensitised for managing faecal waster for making the city safe and green. This movement was supplemented by social and mainstream media promotions. These activities have inspired the households and institutions to avail the FSM service. The demand of safe emptying service has boosted from 8% to 45% within a year.
The initiative is now moving towards improved and safer services by scaling up informal sanitation worker-led inclusive business models and low cost appropriate emptying and transportation technologies to deliver improved and safer faecal sludge management service. The improved emptying services will be offered to the existing 150,000 people of Faridpur City and expanded to additional 400,000 people including 80,000 of low income populations. The service delivery process will improve the lives and empower at least 2,500 family members of pit emptiers. In parallel, a business model has been developed by adopting a Public Private Partnership approach. Through this model, the municipality provides a city-wide customer service at an affordable price. The service providers are regulated for accountable and user-friendly services by the municipality to ensure a sustainable service system. The Faridpur Municipality regulates the service delivery of the cooperatives and treatment plan operator (TPO) through Service Level Agreements. It has set emptying tariff considering affordable of low income communities. The traditional pit-emptier groups have been transformed into business cooperatives through registration under the Department of Cooperatives. They are now capable of business planning, market expansion, demand assessment and clientfriendly service delivery. The pit-emptying has become profitable from year one turning the groups into successful entrepreneurs. Bangladesh Government has adopted this private sector led green business model in the Institutional and Regulatory Framework for FSM. This approach will be scaled up in different cities to turn the informal pit-emptying service into profitable business ventures and dignified livelihood options. Currently, Faridpur Municipality has conducted trial implementation of one-stop integrated municipal utility service, called 1SERVICE. Under which, a dedicated service desk manages requests from citizens and delegates the tasks to the pit-emptying service providers. It offers citizens to place requests for pit-emptying services along with other utility services through text messages, USSD, voice call, apps, and website. This will include services like new water connections, plumbing, safe removal of faecal sludge, collection of municipal and construction waste, drain cleansing, and compost selling. The repair, maintenance, and trouble shooting of sanitation and waste system will also be part of this service. The 1SERVICE will ensure quality, accountability of service providers, and reduces the possibility of illegal dumping.