TIRANA, Nov. 8 – “Inefficiencies in water distribution and management remain a chronic problem in Albania where the national average of water supply is 13 hours per day, non-revenue water at alarming rates and with only 44% of household connections are metered on average nationally, thus discouraging sound water demand management.
The statistics were announced last weekend by Kseniya Lvovsky, the new World Bank Country Manager for Albania at a conference called “Water for All – Ensuring Services to Rural Areas and the Poor.”
“Subsidy could and should be better targeted to the poor,” said Lvovsky, adding that little is known how much of the $30 million per year water and sanitation sector subsidies reaches those who need assistance the most.
“It is safe to say that a majority of these subsidies could be better targeting the poor, including those not served by existing networks,” she added.
According to the World Bank, Albania is better off than many developing countries, but not for all yet. Data show Albania is endowed with an estimated 8,600 m3 per capita per year in water resources – an enviable position from the vantage point of many countries. Current utilization rate is estimated at only 6% annually. The country has relatively high access to water in urban municipalities at 90%, but much lower access to piped water connections in rural municipalities at 58%.
Corresponding sewerage coverage is 68% urban and 2% rural. 18 % of rural household spend 30 minute or more to fetch drinking water – against 6 % of urban households (DHS 2009). Women carry the main burden.
“While not large in numbers, there are still communes and people in Albania who are by-passed by country’s impressive achievements. Water supply is an urgent priority in many mountain villages; for example, Cahan village, in Has District, Kukes region that I visited recently,” says the World Bank country manager.
The World Bank says the situation is a result of insufficient prioritization and policy direction, insufficient national investment and poor targeting of the rural and poor households, weak institutional capacity, lack of accountability and incentives for water service providers, weak data collection and analysis to inform policy.
World Bank Assistance
The World Bank is working with the government to place the water sector at the forefront of its new Country Partnership Strategy and assisting in formulating a new Water and Sanitation Sector Strategy that will, in part, aim to address mis-targeted subsidies with the aim of structuring subsidies to better target the poor.
A “Willingness to Pay” pilot study is also being conducted to better understand the conditions and priorities of citizens from different strata of society and to see where quality of service and pricing policies can be better designed to reach different target groups.
The World Bank also says it is helping government by preparing a new investment operation to develop a scheme that will dramatically increase the supply of water to the Durres Water Utility Service Area, including to more than 126,000 rural residents in 3 municipalities and 4 communes north of Durres.
Drinking water prices rising
Earlier this year, drinking water prices in Tirana and its suburbs increased by 13 lek per cubic meter, according to a decision by the Water Regulatory Entity. Water price for household consumers has become 33 lek/m3, state institutions will pay 110 lek/m3, up from 75 lek while private companies 120 lek/m3.
Special customers, which include companies producing alcoholic beverages and refreshment and swimming pool owners will pay 140 lek/m3.
Water prices for bakeries have remained unchanged at 95 lek/m3.
The decision was made after a request to increase prices by Tirana’s Water and Sewage Company and has been in force since March 1, 2010.
Drinking water remains a problem in most of Albania. Household and business consumers get water supply once a day at set timetables.
