Outline of the Project

Project Name

The Project for Improvement of Water Supply Management of Bee Timor-Leste

Subject

Water Resources/Disaster Management

Country

Timor-Leste

Date R/D Signed

14 July 2021

Project Site

Dili

Term of Cooperation

27 November 2021 - 28 November 2024

Implementing Organization

Bee Timor-Leste (BTL)

Background

The government of Timor-Leste announced the Strategic Development Plan (SDP) in July 2011, which is a Mid-term national development plan. The goa of SDP is to achieve 24-hour water supply in Dili and urban areas of 12 provinces so that all citizens have access to safe water by 2030. According to the Joint Monitoring Program (2017) by WHO and UNICEF, hourly water supply is currently conducted in the most part of urban areas in Timor-Leste, though the rate of access to basic treated water is 98%, leaving many challenges to achieve 24-hour water supply.

At the time of the independence of Timor-Leste in 2002, many of the water supply facilities had been destroyed, the human resources responsible for maintenance and management had been depleted, and most of the functions had ceased. However, with the support of other donors such as the Asian Development Bank (ADB), water supply services are now improving. However, the National Directorate of Water Supply (DNSA) of the Department of Public Works (DPWH) was operating and maintaining the water treatment and pumping facilities, which were malfunctioning, aging and leaking. Some problems have become apparent: lack of human resources capable of operation, maintenance and leakage control, increase in water demand due to the influx of population into the cities, lack of management capability against water theft (illegal connections), weak financial base of the entities, and lack of leadership at the executive level. According to the report by ADB, water available time in Dili is less than 6 hours a day, and there is a large variation in water pressure and water supply time among districts. In addition, there are serious problems related to the management of water services, with the non-revenue water rate estimated at nearly 90% in 2016. Furthermore, DNSA reported that DNSA issued invoices to about 3,000 households out of about 9,600 households with meters in November 2019, and only about 1,000 households paid tariff, indicating that the tariff collection system and its implementation of tariff have some significant problems.

JICA dispatched advisors of water supply improvement from 2012 to 2019 to provide guidance on operation techniques for basic water purification and to support 24-hour water supply in some districts through water distribution blocking (hydraulic separation), which resulted in some improvements in water supply services. Moreover, a new minister was appointed to the Ministry of Public Works in June 2018, who is eager to improve the water supply sector, and in January 2021, the water supply business was transferred from DNSA to the Timor-Leste Water Supply Corporation (Bee Timor-Leste, "BTL") in January 2021. As a result, the foundations for water supply management in Timor-Leste are gradually becoming solid, but there are still a lot of issues that need to be addressed in order for the public corporation to proceed with its operations, such as facility operation and maintenance management, tariff collection, and human resource development.

Taking the support plan of each development partner into consideration, the government of Timor-Leste requested implementation of a technical cooperation project to improve the organizational capacity of BTL with sharing the results of the guidance on 24-hour water supply and operation technology of water purification plant. In addition, JICA requested the implementation of a technical cooperation project to increase water tariff income and strengthen the capacity of water supply through the use of water distribution blocks.

The Overall Goal

Water Supply Service in Timor-Leste (Dili city) is improved

Project Purpose

Business foundation for improving BTL's water supply management capacity is established

Outputs

1. Human resource development plan by occupational category is established
2. BTL's capacity on customer management is improved
3. BTL's capacity on the monitoring of water supply service is strengthened
4. BTL's capacity to manage water distribution is improved
5. BTL's capacity to efficiently operate and maintain water treatment plant is improved

Project Activities

[Output 1]

1-1	Concerning capacity assessment for the BTL's staffs, a baseline survey and an endline survey are carried out
1-2	Attainment targets (capacity, knowledge, experience) are set up according to the occupational category and the years of experiences
1-3	Annual Training Plan is prepared
1-4	Training system for OJT and Off-JT is developed and the priority trainings are carried out
1-5	Training carried out are reviewed

[Output 2]

2-1	Customer awareness survey on water supply service is carried out and the results are analyzed
2-2	Existing customer management methods and customer ledgers are analyzed
2-3	Customer management methods and customer ledgers situation are improved and streamlined
2-4	Appropriate tariff billing and collection cycle and workflow are considered and improved
2-5	Existing situation on billing and collection and on water metered installed are analyzed
2-6	Improvement Plan for tariff collection is prepared and carried out

[Output 3]

3-1	Current indicator collection and monitoring methods on water supply service are analyzed
3-2	KPIs to be monitored are selected based on the level of importance and availability of data
3-3	Monitoring system is established and monitoring manual is prepared
3-4	Training on Performance Indicators (PIs) and its calculation methods is carried out
3-5	KPIs are continuously monitored and analyzed, and Monitoring Report for Water Supply Service is prepared

[Output 4]

4-1	Follow-up and evaluation of the BENAMAUK project and the BEMOS project (identification of issues and lessons learned)
4-2	Planning of pilot projects for Block system for planning, design, construction, inspection, and maintenance
4-3	Preparation of piping drawings for existing water distribution pipes in the Block system of the pilot project.
4-4	Implementation of pilot project for Block system
4-5	Summary of results of pilot project for the Block system (identification of issues and lessons learned, preparing completion drawings)
4-6	Expansion and development of pilot projects (by task force teams)
4-7	Effective public awareness and public relation activities on water supply service in the pilot area are analyzed

[Output 5]

5-1	Proper operation and maintenance of water treatment plant (systematic procurement and proper storage of chemicals, proper chemical loading and proper backwashing)
5-2	Proper maintenance and management of mechanical and electrical equipment (monitoring of energy consumption, periodic inspection, maintenance and repair of equipment)
5-3	Preparation of manuals for daily, periodic inspections and inspection at the abnormal situation of water treatment plant facilities, and development of methods for continuous use of the manuals (review of existing manuals, preparation and use of manuals that have not been prepared, and further review)

Inputs
[Japanese side]

1. JICA Long-term expert
   1)Water Distribution Management
   2)Benchmarking and Performance Assessment / Project Coordination
2. JICA Short-term experts
   1) Chief Advisor / Human Resource Management / Organizational capacity strengthening
   2) Customer Management
   3) Water Quality Management
   4) Operation and Maintenance of Mechanical and electrical equipment
3. Counterpart Training
4. Equipment and materials agreed between Japan and Timor-Leste as necessary for implementing the Project

Inputs
[Timor-Leste Side]

1. Assignment of Counterparts for the project
2. Provision of services, facilities and local expenses for project implementation
   1) Office space and facilities for JICA experts including water, electricity and telecommunication
3. Access to necessary facilities
4. Provision of necessary information