II:The role of informal water vendors in Periurban Dar es Salaam

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II The role of informal water vendors in
Peri-urban Dar es Salaam

• W.J Kombe
• UCLAS
• UN-Habitat/DPU Workshop
• 7th-8th March, 2005
• Nairobi-Kenya

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1 Introduction

• Water Supply Regimes in Dar es Salaam
• Conventional Public Piped System
• On-Site connection
• Waste water management (10)
• Privatisation of water supply, franchised,
  private operator-largely middle and high income
  areas (July, 2003)
• Key Actors
• City Water Limited Ministry of Water (DAWASA)
  and Water Customers (On-plot users)

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• Neighbours on-site connection
• Supplies to neighbouring households
• Water paid in cash-daily, monthly payments
• Supplies-push carts/bicycles vendors
• Sells/supplies to vendors/neighbours
• Key Actors
• Private households, water users, vendors
• Predominantly informal arrangements

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• Public deep wells and boreholes
• Supplies to communities
• Price per bucket set by community leaders
• Management by Community/CBO water committees
  (MODECO in Sitakishari/Tungi Subward Water
  Committee
• Very few piped private connections
• Key Actors
• Water committees, CBOs, DAWASA, Subward leaders,
  NGOs (Water Aid/Plan International)

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• Private deep wells and boreholes
• Owned and managed privately
• Flourishing in the PUI (provided by better-off)
• Extend (piped connection) on request
• Local artisans and Ministry well drilling section
• Retail bulky supplies
• Informal (no licenses, registration or taxes)
• Actors
• Wells and boreholes propriators, vendors, private
  households, artisans etc

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Manually operated borehole in Tungi
Privately-managed water supply systems

• Shallow wells
• Traditional borehles
• Deep wells and boreholes
• Bicycles and push cart vendors
• Networked (piped) systems
• Bulky suppliers (trucks/tanks)

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Characteristics of proprietors/operators

• Retired civil servants
• Bussiness people
• Artisans
• Unemployed youths (men)

Bicycle/push carts vendor buying water from
private borehole proprietors
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• Main characteristics
• Main supply source in the PUI/for the poor
• Largely built using own savings (U 300-U 1,250)
• Key source of income and employment
• Artisans and locally procured equipments
• Ofetn vendors have permanent customers
• Water vendors buy water (TShs 20/ per bucket
  from deep wells owners and resale at TShs
  100-150/ per bucket
• Management features
• Management decisions solely a private affair
• Kiosks operators paid fixed salary

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• Prices set by private individuals
• On-site connections limited (on request)
• Challenges
• Unregulated/uncoordinated operators-supply,
  treatment, siting of wells/boreholes, price etc
  (disregard of Water Act (1974) and Water Policy,
  2002)
• Weak relations between suppliers and users Lack
  of quality control (water testing and treatment)
• High water prices-disregard the poor

10

• High running cost
• Unregulated extraction of ground water
• Unprecedented urban growth/excessive
  densification
• Profit maximization motives
• Opportunities
• Motivated and experienced private operators in
  water supply and sanitation
• Abundant pool of artisans
• Unment demand (increasing PUI population)
• Willingness to pay

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• Major observations Private water managed
• Water selling-key source of livelihoods
• Private wells/boreholes in the PUI supply water
  to inner/intermediate city areas
• Major observations Community and private water
  managed
• Lack/limited public about policies and
  legislations
• Underground main water source in PUI
• Weak relationship between community/private water
  suppliers
• Underperfomamance/failure of the public supply
  system-emergence of private/informal water
  suppliers/vendors

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Comparison between community managed and informal
vendors