POVERTY ELIVIATION

ADB has dedicated itself to a clear and single-minded vision: an Asia and Pacific region free of poverty. All of ADB’s other goals and strategic objectives should contribute to poverty reduction. The Poverty Reduction Strategy sets out the ways in which ADB proposes to pursue this vision.

* Many were bypassed by the growth and transformation that happened in many of the region’s economies
* Economic crises have pitched into poverty thousands who were previously making gains
* Nearly one in four Asians today is poor, surviving on less than $1 per day

The key elements of ADB’s Poverty Reduction Strategy:

* robust, sustained, pro-poor economic growth
* social development, including human development and improvement in the status of women
* better governance

water economics

Economics offers powerful decision and management tools that help to:

* Measure the costs and benefits from water and sanitation investments and policies;
* Assess demand for water and wastewater services and evaluate their relationship to price, income, and other variables;
* Inform decisions regarding the use and targeting of public subsidies, and how to reform tariffs and improve utility finances;
* Evaluate sanitation alternatives and their tradeoffs (choosing, for example, between on-site and off-site systems);
* Assess the costs and benefits of water demand management options, including pricing, leakage reduction, and metering;
* Evaluate the desirability and feasibility of intra- or inter-sectoral water reallocation;
* Assess the efficiency of various modes of service provision (e.g. public vs. private, centralized vs. decentralized);
* Design regulatory and legal frameworks for private sector participation; and
* Evaluate the impact of project or reform on the different actors and stakeholders and devise ways to strengthen institutional frameworks.

Municipal Sewage Regulation

The Municipal Sewage Regulation shall apply to all discharges of domestic sewage.

The Municipal Sewage Regulation may be developed by the ministry of Transportation, Environement and Water to provide clear and effective requirements for (soon to be local governments) and private utilites (soon to be) sewage dischargers in order to protect public health and the environment. Compliance with the regulation would provide authorization (with minimum standards and requirements) for the treatment, reuse and discharge of domestic sewage, wastewater or municipal liquid waste.

The Ministry of Environment may review and potentially revise the Municipal Sewage Regulation. The review process may follows a policy of "continuous improvement" and the ministry's commitment to review the regulation on a regular basis and revise its provisions as appropriate.

Corrupt Practices during Pre-Qualification and Tendering Phase

The following are some examples of the circumstances in which bribes could be paid during the prequalification and tendering phase.

a) A bidder which is properly qualified may find itself being rejected at pre-qualification stage as a result of a bribe paid to a representative of the owner or engineer by another bidder. The reasons given for rejection would be artificial. Alternatively, no reasons may be given. The rejection of several potential winners could result in the favoured bidder being given an unfair advantage at
tender stage.

b) There may be, in relation to a project at tender stage, confidential details such as the owner’s minimum and maximum acceptable prices, or tender assessment system. Possession of this information may assist a contractor in its bid. The leaking of this information by a representative of the owner or engineer to the favoured bidder in return for a bribe may therefore give it an unfair
advantage.

c) The tenders may be received by the owner and not be opened at a public opening exercise. In this case, no-one except the owner will be aware of the bidders’ prices and other critical tender components. This secrecy will enable a representative of the owner to provide confidential information to the favoured bidder in return for a bribe. This bidder can then amend its tender (for example by dropping its price) so as to secure a winning position. The tenders can then be publicised, and the favoured bidder announced as the winner, and no-one will be aware that the winning bidder was given the secret opportunity to amend its tender.

d) The tender process may be corrupted by international pressure. For example, during an allegedly competitive tender process, the government of a developed country may influence the government of a developing country to make sure that a company from the developed country is awarded a project, even if it is not the cheapest or best option. Such pressure can take many forms, including the offer of aid, arms deals or agreements to support a government’s application to join an international organisation. Great lengths are taken to conceal this pressure in some cases. In
others, it is remarkably overt.

The following are some examples of fraudulent practices during the pre-qualification and tendering phase.

a) The bidders may secretly collude with each other to share the market. This normally entails the bidders agreeing that each one of them will win a certain number of projects, or a certain amount of turnover, in a particular sector. In respect of each project, a winning bidder will be pre-selected secretly by all the bidders, and the other bidders will put in tenders at a price which is higher than that of the pre-selected bidder.

b) The bidders may agree with each other on a “losers’ fee” arrangement. This normally entails the bidders agreeing that they will bid in full competition with each other (i.e. no price fixing agreement, or pre-selection of the winner). However, they agree that they will each include in their price a fixed sum representing the estimated aggregate bid costs of all the bidders. The winner will then divide this fixed sum equally between the losers. The primary reason for this arrangement is compensation for the irrecoverable bidding costs of the losing bidders.

c) A group of suppliers of materials may collude to fix the minimum price of the materials they supply. Even when there is competitive tendering, prices will be kept higher than would be the case with genuine competition.

Steering the water sector

Implementing HR in the water sector:

UN human rights system now has a separate mechanism exclusively dedicated to issues related to the right to water and sanitation. The resolution also confirms that governments have obligations to ensure access to safe drinking water and sanitation under international human rights law.

Here in Male’ we seem to have forgotten the stenching smell of groundwater in densely packed islands after our tap started running desalinated water. We pay $$ for that convenience without realizing that foreign private companies are gearing up to control the multimillion-dollar market to “upgrade” the nation's ancient water and sanitation systems.

Think. Coastal Cartagena was the first of about 50 cities and towns to privatize its water in Colombia. The capital Bogotá bucked the privatization trend, refused World Bank money and transformed its public utility into the most successful in Colombia. Which direction shall we go? Which ever course we decide on it is vital that we realize that MONOPOLY and CORRUPTION are the two ugly faces of underdevelopment.

OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY

WORKPLACE ACCIDENTS
We generally think of job accidents as negative aspects of production. And, of course, they are. They're certainly something you want to prevent. But if it can be said that there is such a thing as an upside to workplace accidents and near misses, it's that these incidents can show you the gaps in your safety programs, procedures, and practices. That helps you see what you need to do to correct safety problems and improve safety performance. And one of the best ways to understand accidents, correct safety problems, and prevent tomorrow's accidents is to thoroughly investigate the incidents that occur today. In a successful accident investigation, you assemble evidence, interview witnesses and those involved, and then piece all this information together to try to understand why the accident happened and what you need to do to make sure something similar doesn't happen again.

Employees play an important role in investigations. Here's what to tell your employees about how they can help in an accident investigation:
• Report all accidents and near misses right away. Even if nobody was hurt, your supervisor needs to know what happened so steps can be taken to prevent future problems.
• If you witness an accident, try to remember what happened. Write down what you saw as soon after the accident as possible-what, where, when, who, and why.
• Don't disturb the scene of the accident. You could destroy valuable evidence that could help investigators figure out exactly how the accident happened.
• Provide any information you have about an accident. Come forward right away and tell what you know. Your cooperation is essential to the success of the investigation.
• Lend your expertise to the investigation. If you have special knowledge about the equipment or procedures involved, the circumstances surrounding the accident, etc., tell what you know and offer your suggestions.
• Encourage co-workers to cooperate in accident investigations. Remind them that the purpose of an accident investigation is to prevent future accidents—accidents that could involve any one of them.
• Join with co-workers to implement any corrective measures that come out of an investigation. Be sure to follow any new safety rules that result from an accident investigation.

Accident reports also play a crucial role in preventing future incidents. Accident reports explain causes and recommend solutions. They should include at least the following information:
• Name of the employee(s) involved
• Names of any injured employees
• Date of the accident
• Time of the accident
• Location of the accident
• Names of witnesses
• Work the employees involved were engaged in at the time of the accident
• Nature and extent of any injuries
• Name and address of hospital or doctor treating victims
• Description of the incident
• Unsafe condition(s) or unsafe act(s) that caused the accident
• Actions taken to prevent similar accidents
• Recommendations for additional action
• Name of supervisor(s) or manager(s) who investigated the accident
• Name of supervisor or manager responsible for writing the report
• Date report written and submitted
The best reports are written in plain, direct language that leaves no doubt as to meaning. Descriptions or explanations are brief and to the point, but contain sufficient detail to make the necessary point clearly.

HUMAN RIGHTS, CORRUPTION IN THE WATER SECTOR

Corruption and Water
Water is a quencher of thirst, a grower of crops, a generator of power, fundamental to hygiene, and a basic natural resource vital for our daily existence. Water is necessary for human survival. Water is also a foundation for development. Without water, there can be no economic growth, no industry, no hydropower, no agriculture and no cities. Investing in water governance and infrastructure means investing in jobs, agriculture and food security, education, gender empowerment, environmental equity, as well as reducing infant mortality, improving health and a host of other factors that are commonly seen as the pre-requisites of progress.

Too often, this investment is blocked by corruption. Corruption keeps the poor in poverty and makes the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals (MDG) impossible to achieve. To date, clean drinking water remains unobtainable for nearly 1.2 billion people around the world. This is not due to scarcity, but rather a lack of good governance. In many countries up to 50 percent or more of water goes unaccounted for due to unmonitored water leakages in pipes and canals, unauthorised connections from the rich and illegal tapping by the poor. The water crisis is a governance crisis with corruption at its core.