Decentralization as a tool to enhance sustainability

All major rural water supply projects implemented in Sri Lanka during last few decades were centrally managed by a Project Management Unit with their own Project Implementation Units at district levels for service delivery. With the winding up of these projects, sustainability of facilities constructed remain solely in the hands of beneficiary communities, risking long term benefits of the investment in the absence of proper back up support mechanism. The Government, taking this important matter into consideration has embarked on a significant sector reform program through decentralized implementation arrangements involving Provincial Councils (PCs) and Local Authorities (LAs) as key stakeholders in the implementation process. Although some reluctance was evident at the beginning due to lack of human and other resources, participating PCs/LAs have undertaken the task of RWSS project implementation successfully. Lesson learnt is that with clear strategies and commitment of participating stakeholders, inherent weaknesses in the public sector can be overcome.