Millennium Challenge Corporation's interim evaluation of their "$354 million Zambia Compact(2013-2018) funded the Lusaka Water Supply, Sanitation, and Drainage Project to rehabilitate and extend infrastructure and strengthen the insti-tutional capacity of the Lusaka Water and Sewerage Company (LWSC) and Lusaka City Council (LCC)" is now available from their website. A significant part of the project was aimed at providing sewers for the 100,000 population of Mtendere, a low-income community in Lusaka, this to protect the groundwater from ongoing pit latrine pollution, where the groundwater was being abstracted to support water supply to the city.
Sadly they have to confirm that "Unfortunately, the construction of the sewerage network in the low-income community of Mtendere encountered several challenges including a poor-performing contractor leading to the network remaining incomplete several months after compact close. The evaluation findings uncovered residents frustrated at the lack of infrastructure that had been promised for so long, including a few who took out loans to build toilets that now sat unused."
The project had done so much to support that new sewerage, with what was meant to be a complete new water supply network in Mtendere so that there would be adequate water for flushing .... and that new network had been supported by attempts to improve DMAs in the city, supported by upgrading of the main abstraction works and transmission pipelines, all supported by Technical Assistance to assist Lusaka Water and Sewerage Corporation being becoming more low-income customer aware, in terms of service offered and sustainable in terms of revenue collection (my involvement) and asset management etc. etc. along with a lot of information, education and communication with communities.
So, after several years, this toilet is still not plumbed in to mains water and cannot be flushed to the new sewers ...... think what this means in 'cost per person served' .....