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Introduction
The Orangi Pilot
Project or OPP is one of the world's best-known non-government
projects in the large-scale provision of sanitation
for the urban poor. The project began in 1980 in the
depressed and overcrowded Orangi settlement, one of
Karachi's most blighted districts and its largest
katchi abadi or squatter settlement. This remarkable
initiative has remained self-sufficient for over two
decades. It is still a self-funded and self-managed
grassroots movement that relies purely on the skills
and resources of the urban poor. Using local materials
and labour to build hundreds of kilometres of low-cost
underground sewers, OPP has significantly improved
living conditions for millions of people.
By 2001 the Orangi
project had benefited more than 60,000 families, and
inspired thousands of others to work independently.
Over 400 collector sewers have been built, and collectively
the community has invested some 82 million Rupees
(around US$1.4 million) in their sewage system. Community
goods and traffic can now move more freely, supporting
home-based enterprises and trading; infant deaths
have fallen dramatically and health of the general
population has greatly improved.
The provision
of community sanitation services has been at the heart
of the project, but the unique way in which this was
achieved is just as important. The inspiring demonstration
of poor urban communities' ability to mobilise
resources has been a crucial factor. The OPP's
philosophy of community responsibility for services
through indigenous and self-motivated initiatives
has empowered the community to the point of requiring
little or no 'outside' help.
Community-driven
Management
Recognition that communities need to
be fully prepared in order to construct and
manage their own infrastructure services is vital.
Preparatory activities include basic education, training
for local leaders, community discussion and the establishing
of and support for local community groups. Through
the provision of guidance that encourages local management
and financial resources to come together, community-driven
self-management is greatly strengthened.
Two key stages can be identified
as essential to project success:
Stage
1: Preparation
• Identifying community needs and priorities
without being influenced by NGOs or local government
• Identifying the resources that are available
locally and how they might be used
• Nominating leaders who are accountable to
residents and represent the needs of the community
• Training project employees from the community
to provide technical advice and to motivate residents
• Training communities to develop skills, particularly
those individuals with existing 'traditional knowledge'.
Stage
2: Community Mobilisation
• Approaching influential community members
with good reputations, to contact residents about
the project
• Devising appropriate methods for explaining
important features to residents, such as a slide show
• Seeking the support of local organisations
with technical knowledge, for example to provide surveys
and cost estimates
• Organising collection of money from each individual
or household and ensuring accounts are kept
• Purchasing local materials and hiring labour
so that work can begin.
These steps formed the backbone of the Orangi project
and ensured full community involvement from the beginning.
The technical support provided by the project helped
to strengthen trust between the OPP and the residents
or Orangi, based on the responsibilities and expectations
of each.
The
Secret of Success
The level of involvement of lane managers, lane residents
and local contractors is a critical factor in the
success of the Orangi project. Local people have control
over their own service provision and learn by doing
most of the work.
Taking
responsibility
Residents are responsible for managing finances and
constructing lane sanitation. All decisions and responsibilities
on household sewers rest with households so that accountability
is given to appropriate people, creating ownership.
Community
organisation
Small social organisations are encouraged to form,
with around 20 to 40 households acting as a practical
unit. Formal organisations based on neighbourhood
or area committees are often too large and cumbersome
to respond quickly to local needs.
Funding
Communities are responsible for paying for sewer lines
at the lane level. Self-financing improves the level
of co-operation and motivation between residents.
Lower
costs
The average cost per household is around 1000 Rupees
(US$40) in total. This is between one quarter and
one sixth of the cost to the government of similar
sewers. A simplified design, accepted by the Local
Authority, has helped to cut costs, and construction
is cheaper, partly because the residents build and
supervise the work themselves. This eliminates the
cost of corrupt practices and professional fees for
contractors, and the quality of the work tends to
be better than that of government contractors. Paying
only the cost of labour and materials makes it affordable
and much easier to persuade poor families to take
on the responsibility for self-financing.
The problem of loan recovery is avoided when people
organise themselves and collect money first.
Lessons
Learned
The OPP shows how communities can provide their
own infrastructure where service provision is missing.
Community mobilisation and organisation, in devoting
money, time and hard work, has improved the lives
of the residents of Orangi. The recommended use of
low-cost affordable technologies, although below national
standards, is now accepted by the Sindh Katchi Abadi
Authority. Through learning, adjusting and adopting
OPP principles, many settlements in the region are
benefiting as a result. The success of OPP has proved
that the concept of development through community
participation is the only viable option for low-income
communities.
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For further information, please
contact:
Perween
Rahman
Orangi Pilot Project Research and Training Institute
(OPP RTI),
Plot No ST 4 Sector 5A,
Qasba Colony,
Manghopir Road,
Karachi 75800,
Pakistan.
Tel: +92 21 6658628/6652297
WaterAid
Prince Consort House
27-29 Albert Embankment
London SE1 7UB
England
Tel: +44 207 793 4500
Fax: +44 207 793 4545
E-mail: information@wateraid.org.uk
www.wateraid.org.uk
Alternative
Finance
www.alternative-finance.org.uk/en/links.html
The Alternative Finance website has a comprehensive
list of organisations focusing on micro-credit and
micro-enterprise around the world.
Eldis
Microfinance Gateway
nt1.ids.ac.uk/eldis/fin/micro.htm
The Eldis Microfinance Gateway lists many organisations
involved with micro-credit. It also has many country
profiles, where papers from different countries can
be viewed, and organisations working in those countries
can be found.
MicroFinance
Network
www.bellanet.org/partners/mfn
The MicroFinance Network is a global association of
leading microfinance practitioners. The members of
the MicroFinance Network are committed to improving
the lives of low-income people through the provision
of credit, savings and other financial services.
The
Microfinance Gateway
www.microfinancegateway.org
The Microfinance Gateway is a public forum for the
microfinance industry at large that offers a wealth
of tailored services for microfinance professionals,
including resource centres on specific topics in microfinance,
a searchable library of electronic documents, a consultant
database, a jobs listing service, and specialised
discussion groups.
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Further
Reading
From the Lane to the City: The impact of the Orangi
Pilot Project's Low Cost Sanitation Model
Akbar Zaidi, WaterAid (included on the present site!)
The following books are available
to buy from Earthprint or you can download them as
pdf files from IIED's website.
Community-driven Water and Sanitation: The Work of
the Anjuman Samaji Behbood and the Larger Faisalabad
Context
Salim Alimuddin, Arif Hasan and Asiya Sadiq
US$ 9.00, IIED, 2000, ISBN: 1843690195
EARTHPRINT Ltd.
P.O. Box 119
Stevenage
Hertfordshire
SG1 4TP
England
Tel: +44 1438 748 111
Fax: +44 1438 748 844
Email: customerservices@earthprint.com
Website: www.earthprint.com
The Water, Engineering and Development Centre (WEDC)
at the University of Loughborough has many publications
on sanitation and urban services. Some of the publications
below can be downloaded for free in full in pdf format
from the WEDC website. Others are only partially available,
but all can be bought by contacting them and some
are reproduced on the present site.
Low-cost Sanitation: A survey of practical experience
John Pickford
This practical manual describes and compares a range
of low-cost systems - what they are, where they are
appropriate, and how they can be planned, built, operated
and maintained.
£9.95, 1995, ISBN: 1 85339 233 2
Sustainable Sewerage: Guidelines for community schemes
R.A.Reed
This handbook describes these schemes and suggests
objective methods of prioritising communities needs
for sewerage. It surveys the planning, selection,
design, management and maintenance of community schemes,
and provides technical and financial suggestions on
cost-effective practice and procedures.
£6.95, 1995, ISBN: 1 85339 305 3
On-plot Sanitation for Low-income Urban Communities:
Guidelines for selection
Andrew Cotton and Darren Saywell
This document presents the findings from Phase 2 (August
1994 - March 1997) of a Department for International
Development (DFID) project (R4857) covering On-Plot
Sanitation in Low Income Urban Communities. The project
concerns the performance of on-plot sanitation systems
in urban India, Ghana and Mozambique. It aims to investigate
how satisfactory on-plot sanitation is in the urban
context, and to develop guidance on its use for policy
makers and professional staff of urban governments,
development agencies and non-government organisations
£9.95, 1998, ISBN: 0 906055 55 5
Community Initiatives in Urban Infrastructure
A.P.Cotton, M.Sohail and W.K. Tayler
This manual investigates the extent and nature of
the involvement oflow-income urban communities in
the provision of their local infrastructure. It also
provides guidance for policy-makers and professional
staff of urban government, development agencies, non-government
organisations, and small to medium enterprises for
promoting increased involvement of communities in
the procurement of neighbourhood (tertiary level)
infrastructure.
£9.95, 1998, ISBN: 0 906055 56
WEDC
Loughborough University
Leicestershire
LE11 3TU
United Kingdom
Tel: + 44 (0) 1509 222885
Fax: + 44 (0) 1509 211079
Email: WEDC@lboro.ac.uk
Website: www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/cv/wedc/index.htm
This document is an output from a project funded by
the UK Department for International Development (DFID)
and the European Commission (EC) for the benefit of
developing countries. The views expressed are not
necessarily those of DFID or the EC.
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Acknowledgements
ITDG would like to thank Arif Hasan and Virginia Roaf
at WaterAid,
for providing assistance in the making of this document.
TVE/ITDG gratefully acknowledge support for the HANDS
ON programmes from the UK's Department for International
Development (DFID), the European Commission (EC),
the UN Foundation and UNDP/The Equator Initiative
in collaboration with the Government of Canada, IDRC,
IUCN, BrasilConnects and the Nature Conservancy. |
