Federation Government and international partners spearheading the water services reform
At the initiative of the Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and with the support of the international development partners, two important documents, namely the Water Services Improvement Program and the Water Service Tariff Setting Methodology were adopted earlier this year with the purpose of initiating the water services sector reforms in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
These two documents were presented today on the occasion of the celebration of the World Water Day, while underlining the challenges that the water supply utility companies face due to unsustainability and inability to cover the operation and maintenance costs.
Recognizing these challenges, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Water Management and Forestry was assigned by the Government of Federation of BiH to establish a cross-sector Working Group in order to develop a Program for the improvement of water services in the Federation and the utilization of the announced financial and technical assistance.
The technical assistance was provided by the MEG 2 project jointly financed by the Governments of Switzerland, Sweden and Czech Republic, and implemented by the UNDP in BiH.
The Program lays down the key activities aimed at better functioning of the water service providers, in particular water supply utility companies, including the activities geared towards more rational and proper planning of the project development and implementation in the field of water services, as well as harmonization with the relevant EU legislation. The adoption and implementation of these documents had been clearly set as the precondition to be met by all levels of government, not only in the Federation of BiH, but in the whole Bosnia and Herzegovina, in order to be eligible for further financial support provided by the international development partners for the modernization and reform of water services sector.
On behalf of Water Alliance, Mr. Stefano Ellero, head of cooperation at EU Delegation in BiH addressed the meeting. He pointed out the need to reform water services sector and welcomed the adoption of the Program and Methodology as they will enable continued work on the development projects in this field in the Federation of BiH. Mr. Christopher Sheldon, the World Bank country manager, introduced the Water Services Modernization Project to be launched in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the course of this year.
Minister Dedić said that the reforms should be carried out gradually and optionally in local communities.
“The adopted documents are an important step, but a lot of work is still ahead of us. I trust that the support of institutions from all levels, and above the active involvement of local communities in the program activities would yield results and contribute to strengthening this sector in order to be sustainable and capable of ensuring good health and environment for our citizens,” said minister Dedić.
Mr. Suad Huskić, president of the Association of Municipalities and Cities of the Federation of BiH, and Ms. Belma Zukić, of the Association of the Public Utility Employers in FBiH, also stressed the importance of these documents, pointing out that some of the local communities that had been involved in the UNPD project have already adopted part of the reform process and implemented provisions of the Methodology.
As the World Water Day this year promotes the importance of groundwater, Dr. Alma Imamović, held the presentation on the quality of drinking water in Bosnia, while stressing the importance of putting more efforts in keeping the water sources clean and protected. The abundance of natural water resources was also underlined as well as the need to raise awareness of the source protection and the importance of buying local bottled water, as some of the local producers of bottled water promoted their water products at the event.
