Water is the most important of all basic needs, and is fundamental to all vital processes of
value to mankind. However, statistics indicate that of all the water available on earth, only a
limited fraction is available for human consumption. With the growing world population,
there is increasing demand for water worldwide.
The situation is even more complicated in cities of the developing world that are
characterised by rapid population growth while the economic status is low. This often results
in the demand for water growing faster than the ability to supply. Urban population
expansion in the developing world therefore further complicates the challenge of water
provision. This is a very critical issue because failure to meet the water demands of cities can
put peopleâs lives at risk. The main challenge therefore is to develop appropriate policies
that guide water provision.
This is also the situation in Lesotho. Like other developing countries, Lesothoâs population
has been growing at an alarming rate. Most of the growth has been happening in the capital
city Maseru, which absorbs a high share of the countryâs urban population. However, the
fast rate of urbanisation in Lesotho, particularly in Maseru has not been coupled with the
necessary expansion of water supply systems, thereby causing pressure of the existing
system.
WASA the body that is charged with the responsibility of urban water supply in Lesotho has
since its formulation generally failed to meet its obligation. This is as a result of ineffective
policies that were put in place to guide the authority. About half of the population within
WASAâs area of designation are still unserved. Several policy related issues have resulted in
this. Firstly, the subsidisation of water by disallowing price increases. Secondly, the supply of free water through public standpipes, and thirdly the false assumption that the poor cannot
afford to pay even the minimum charge for water. These issues have not only resulted in
financial instability to WASA thus hindering service expansion, but have also resulted in
denial of service to the poor while the rich enjoyed low cost service. Empirical examination
of the situation on water provision in Maseru has further confirmed the issues discussed
above. From a policy perspective it is therefore imperative tha t water supply services are
expanded and improved to be financially viable.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:ufs/oai:etd.uovs.ac.za:etd-11102005-081555 |
| Date | 10 November 2005 |
| Creators | Molapo, Lifuo |
| Contributors | Dr JGL Marais |
| Publisher | University of the Free State |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | en-uk |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.uovs.ac.za//theses/available/etd-11102005-081555/restricted/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to University Free State or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
Page generated in 0.0017 seconds