1-1 Background of the Project The Rawalpindi municipal area generated about 700 tons/day in solid waste, which broke down to 510 tons per day of household waste, 80 tons/day from animals and 110 tons/day from commercial establishments in 1995. Twenty-two garbage collection and transportation trucks owned by the Rawalpindi Municipal Corporation (RMC) were operable, and of these vehicles seven had been purchased more than 10 years ago and the frequent breakdowns had lowered their utilization rate. RMC was able to collect 280 tons/day of garbage, or just 40%. Sanitary landfill practices were not carried out at the final disposal site, such as leveling the garbage, compacting it, or covering it with soil. Given this situation, the government of Pakistan announced the Rawalpindi Package (fiscal 1995/96), aiming to improve and beautify the city. As a part of the plan, the government of Pakistan requested Grant Aid from the government of Japan for the purchase of vehicles to be used for solid waste management. 1-2 Project Overview The Grant Aid supported the procurement of the necessary equipment for the improvement of cleaning operations at RMC, which is next to the capital city Islamabad. (1) Overall Goal
To improve the city’s ability to collect garbage and manage its collection system, and to improve the sanitary conditions of Rawalpindi City. (2) Project Purpose
To provide RMC with the equipment necessary for garbage collection and disposal. (3) Output
1) The acquisition of equipment necessary for a container collection system
2) The attainment of disposal equipment capable of sanitary land filling
3) The procurement of wrecker trucks, spare parts and tools (4) Input Japanese Side: 681 million yen Pakistan Side: Land and facilities |
3-1 Summary of Evaluation Results(1) Impact
The Solid Waste Management Environmental Enhancement Project (SWEEP), (a project aiming to improve operation and management of solid waste disposal with the participation of local residents), was scheduled to be implemented in May 1997, utilizing the Japan Human Resources Development Fund (JHRDF) established in the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). Accordingly, the RMC planned to conduct its own activities using the equipment procured through the Grant Aid from Japan in line with SWEEP. However, as SWEEP did not actually get started until October, the procured equipment for garbage collection and land reclamation did not really start being used until March 1998, although they were ready as early as March 1997.
RMC bought 300,000 square meters of land in Mouza Losar, 25 km southeast of Rawalpindi City, as the new final disposal site planned in the Rawalpindi Package and planned to fully adopt sanitary landfill methods for this site. However, the process was time consuming and the sanitary landfill method was only being used on a provisional site. Due to these delays, the old disposal site was still being used, although in the initial plans it was supposed to be closed. Therefore there was no improvement in the sanitary environment in that vicinity. Also, the equipment was damaged a great deal because it was used in inappropriate locations.
Similarly, although the Pakistan side was supposed to have completed a new mechanical workshop to take care of equipment operation and management (O&M) in 1997, it was not finished until 2000 and the equipment provided in the project only began to be used from this point.
In 1995, the collection rate was only 40%, and has been maintained in the 90% range since the new administrative system was adopted. The initial goal of 64% was achieved.
Garbage collectors stated that once the container method was adopted for garbage collection, there was a dramatic improvement in sanitary conditions and that odors and flies decreased. A questionnaire survey was administered to 100 residents selected arbitrarily from four areas where the RMC provides the garbage collection. They all responded that the garbage in the city had decreased and that there had also been improvements from an aesthetic viewpoint. By covering garbage with soil in the sanitary landfill method, four technicians and two managers from the Department of Sanitation stated that sanitary conditions of water had been improved and fires due to the release of methane gas had been eliminated. However it depends on residents’ awareness whether they dispose garbage in the containers, and information has not been completely disseminated so there are many cases in which garbage is left around the containers. This has resulted in many complaints from nearby residents concerning odors and garbage scattering caused by dogs and birds. About half of the residents responded to the questionnaire stated that they had become used to disposing their garbage into the containers. (2) Sustainability
At the time of this evaluation, organizational, technical and financial sustainability had been attained, but some organizational and technical aspects will have to be improved immediately.
On August 14, 2002, the local governments adopted new administrative systems, and RMC’s jurisdiction was expanded from 77 administrative areas to 80. Despite this expansion, the government froze the hiring of new civil employees, so the number of employees was kept at 1,756, the number of staff employed when the project completed. Employees were reassigned to improve efficiency, but each individual employee’s responsibilities increased. There are only 17 employees in the mechanical workshop, and although there are no problems as of now because the equipment procured is still new, they will need as many as 36 employees in the future.
The containers are manufactured locally in line with Pakistan’s regulations, but due to rough handling on the part of residents and the garbage collectors the light metal lids on the containers have all broken and a tar-coated water resistant sheet is used instead.
The mechanical workshop repairs equipment, overhauls engines, performs the necessary bodywork on vehicles, repairs containers, and is able to handle technical problems. However, they do not have a lathe machine and this work must be outsourced to private-sector companies. As for heavy machinery such as bulldozers and excavators, they take care of routine maintenance for this kind of machinery.
The washing facilities used for equipment maintenance was lost in the 2001 flood, so this work is also entrusted to private-sector companies. The procured washing machine, pressure machine, and puncture-mending machine all have electrical connections that cannot be used in the factory. The vehicles must be washed and punctures mended at gas stations and other outside places.
Sixty percent of spare parts for the equipment procured in the project have still been left, and should be enough to last for a three-year period.
Four of the employees at the mechanical workshop received training in maintenance and inventory management at CMTI, which was established through another Grant Aid project with Japan. So the workshop has adopted the “double entry and inventory protection” method. They also use an inventory management system introduced by Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers (JOCV).
Leftover Budget funds are rolled over into the next fiscal year, and the sanitation branch has no difficulty in covering O&M expenses. However, the procedures for obtaining approval for large repairs are complex and it takes a great deal of time until the repair work actually starts.
In the planning stage, it was decided that a sanitation tax would be adopted in order to reduce the burden to the overall RMC budget. This was meant to go towards the O&M of procured equipment and ease RMC’s spending, which would be strained by additional personnel expenses with the introduction of the new systems for garbage collection and landfill. However, the freeze on new recruitment meant that there was no increase in personnel expenses and no financial problems, so that the original purpose of the sanitation tax was lost. The sanitation tax was introduced in July 1998. Tax collection was outsourced to the private sector since the introduction, but when the scope of the administrative areas was expanded to 80 areas, RMC began to collect the tax itself. The tax collection rate became so low, therefore RMC is considering entrusting this task to the private sector again. To augment the project’s operation costs, SWEEP levied tax under the same name of ‘sanitation tax’ without an adequate explanation. The residents resultantly objected to being taxed twice for the same service by 2 institutions. The sanitation tax system by SWEEP was discontinued in July 2001. With this background, residents were still leery of sanitation tax. Although there were no financial problems as of this evaluation, RMC should consider ways to improve the collection rate if they are to implement the initial plan. 3-2 Factors that Promoted the Realization of Effects (1) Factors Concerning the Planning
N/A (2) Factors Concerning the Implementation Process
After SWEEP was implemented and the project activities were started, the equipment procured in the project began to be used to its full potential. Improvements in the residents’ awareness of correct garbage disposal and the importance of a sanitary environment helped the introduction of the new container system to run smoothly. 3-3 Factors that Impeded the Realization of Effects (1) Factors Concerning the Planning
N/A (2) Factors Concerning the Implementation Process
1) The containers have incurred a great deal of damage due to the residents’ insufficient awareness of how to correctly maintain them.
2) The new final disposal site has not yet been prepared and garbage is being disposed using the landfill method on a temporary site, and some equipment procured in the project has been greatly damaged because it has been used in inappropriate places. 3-4 ConclusionSince many external factors did not materialize, it was not possible to fully use the equipment procured immediately after the project was completed. After five years, it is expected that the new disposal site will be used soon. The new landfill system was adopted primarily at the temporary garbage disposal site, but this system does work and showed that the project had a significant impact. Although there is a problem with regards to the sustainability of the project, strategies to train workshop employees, and improve organizational methods, and technical and financial approaches have been basically secured. 3-5 Recommendations(1) The RMC needs to resolve the residents’ confusion, win their understanding on sanitation tax, and should implement legislation regarding these issues. (2) The time required to gain approval for the repair of heavy machinery needs to be reduced. Leaving broken machinery unattended for long periods of time can lead to other breakdowns and will accelerate their deterioration. (3) Training in maintenance techniques should be started as soon as possible for the mechanical workshop employees to utilize the equipment stably. 3-6 Lessons LearnedIn projects such as this in which cooperation with other organizations is the key to the project’s success, adequate discussion between organizations during the planning stage can yield significant impact. 3-7 Follow-up SituationN/A |
