Reactivation of public–private partnership (PPP) models for rural water supplies in Rwanda: strengthening operation and maintenance systems

ABSTRACT The responsibility for operation and maintenance (O&M) in rural piped water supply systems in Rwanda has been transferred from the community to private operators (POs) during 2004. However, water supply services were suspended in many cases because of a lack of proper rehabilitation and regular maintenance due to technical and institutional capacity gaps of POs and other key stakeholders. As countermeasures, this project used the following six approaches: elaborating the O&M framework including the adoption of a licensing system for POs, establishing a drinking water quality monitoring framework, developing stakeholder capacity, developing inventory data and facility mapping, strengthening data management systems, and installing the necessary equipment for water supply management. As a result, the annual downtime of water supply services in the model districts was reduced by 41%. The result was inferred to be mainly related to the establishment of a licensing system for POs, improved reporting mechanism and royalty payment strategy, dedicated bank accounts for water, and the development of an asset inventory. To reactivate the public–private partnership models, it was important to identify specific issues from the national guidelines and contents of the contract between asset owners and POs to activities in the field and to work on improving them realistically.