FY91 sector review water supply and sanitation

The fourth Annual Review of World Bank activities in the water and sanitation sector has outlined three major issues of concern. These are water resources management, economic justification and financial sustainability, and the adequacy of sectoral institutions and operational management and maintenance of existing facilities. This year's report discusses primarily the last of these three issues. The basic problem remains that poor populations and small industries are either denied service, forced to pay exorbitant prices, or given unreliable service while the consumption of more affluent consumers is subsidized. Although there are many contributing factors such as poor management skills, lack of institutional incentive and appropriate technologies, the Bank has decided to focus their future research on the generation of innovative institutional development models, and cross-cultural exchange of experience and ideas.