Water sector needs central 'apex body' to improve services: NEDA

The fundamental institutional issues of fragmentation and lack of leadership have led to mixed results in the water sector during the Aquino administration's first two years, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Socio-Economic Report 2010-2012 (SER) said. While the report noted that the percentage of families with access to safe drinking water has increased from 84.8 percent in 2010 to 85.5 percent in 2011, “[f]ragmentation in the sector is the primary impediment in the effective management of the sector," said the report. The fragmented nature of the sector has led to the lack of "updated, harmonized, and comprehensive data in the sector," which only aggravates the difficulties in implementing programs and coordination among agencies, it said. Not having a clear monitoring system, particularly on the initiatives being done by local government units, makes it harder to assess the sustainability of water infrastructure, it added. "The lack of information on sector performance and baseline data, as reflected by conflicting reported statistics, poses difficulties in tracking improvements undertaken by agencies vis-à-vis the national targets. In addition, various data issues include: different and conflicting sources of data, lack of adequate disaggregation, and definitions, different parameters and methodologies used, among others," said the report. To remedy this, it said, a Philippine Water Resources Sector Development Plan (PWRSDP) to provide a comprehensive framework on the integration of all development plans in the water sector must be formulated and a framework for an “apex body” to provide leadership to the sector must be created. A study conducted by NEDA and the Department of Public Works and Highways confirmed this, said the report: “This study reaffirmed the need for a central agency to govern management of the country’s water resources to be called the National Water Resources Management Office.” The government will continue to pursue the integrated water resources management (IRWM) approach as its overall strategy, the report said. “IWRM promotes the coordinated development and management of water, land, and related resources to optimize economic and social welfare without compromising the sustainability of vital ecosystems,” it said. The SER assesses the first two years of the Aquino administration according to the goals set in the 2011-2016 Philippine Development Plan. — BM, GMA News