Community Financing of Low Cost Sanitation Programme of Orangi Pilot Project, Karachi, Pakistan

1. Community Financing of Low Cost Sanitation Programme of Orangi Pilot Project, Karachi, Pakistan Mansoor Ali September 2006

2. The Context of Karachi • Karachi is a city of 10 million • Only port of Pakistan • 4 million people live in squatters • Economically active urban poor • Large small private and informal economy • Orangi is one of the largest squatters of Asia with 1 million population

3. About Orangi squatter .. • Orangi started as a peri-urban squatter of immigrant industrial labourer in 1965 on agriculture land • After division of Pakistan in 1971, more than 300,000 immigrants moved in from Bangladesh • Population increased to 800,000 when OPP started initial visits in 1980 • It is not a high density inner city type slum • People own land and build houses; there are clusters of ethnic groups – some settlements are mixed ethnic • Many skills are available locally, all schools and health facilities are private and affordable • Local markets are vibrant because of large number of buyers

4. About the Sanitation Programme of Orangi Pilot Project, Karachi.. • OPP Started in 1982 as an initiative of Dr Akhtar Hameed Khan • It assisted more than 1 million people in building their own sanitation system • The programme replicated in many other cities and adopted in the national sanitation policy • More than 100,000 families constructed their sanitation systems • Invested 1.2 million dollars of their own money in Orangi

5. Why OPP’s Programme is unique? • Demonstrate that urban poor can finance and maintain lane level infrastructure at a large scale • Demonstrate an important role for the external agencies • Demonstrate how the cost and dependency on external can be reduced

6. Most Important – Simple and Dedicated Leadership The founder of OPP devoted himself to the uplift of poor since 1950 He kept the project office, expenditures and his own life very simple Orangi was his last development model of Dr Khan who died in October 1999

7. Akhtar Hameed Khan Philosophy to help poor • Poor people are generally honest, hardworking and ready to contribute • Projects need to distinguish between the philanthropy and development • If you assist poor people through availability, knowledge and advice as rural extension workers – poor can invest from their resources and overcome problems

8. Inception of the OPP Programme in 1982: • Initial visits and observations by Dr Khan – particularly looking what problems people are trying to address and how • Speaking to people, their organisations, councillors and other leaders • Speaking to government departments • Setting up a small office with open doors policy • Poor sanitation as a major and urgent issue to address • People already trying to build sewers, but because of lack of technical support, the investment is not sustainable

9. Key Question in OPP asked: Why people invest in house and not in the lane sanitation system?

10. Identification of Four Major barriers to sanitation • Psychological barrier – free gift expectation from govt., politicians, NGOs • The financial barrier – cost of conventional standards, if done by govt., donors or large private sector • The technical barrier – local skills and knowledge was not enough • The sociol barrier – need lane level organisation and ability to work together

11. The basis of OPP approach from rural development Similar to farmers, urban poor needs constant assistance: • Research – improved methods, e.g. plant protection etc. • Extension – dissemination and demonstration • Provision of affordable services and supplies

12. OPP used the above approach to remove the 4 barriers: For example: Research to Reduce the Cost: • Simplified Designs • Standard Shuttering • Area Survey and Mapping • Models of slides, audio visual etc. • Simple guidelines, instructions, posters etc.

13. Extension consisted of: • Finding activists/ street (lane) manager • Training lane manager and masons • Providing accurate plans and estimates • Loaning tools and shuttering • Social and technical guidance and construction supervision

14. Division of Various Levels in Services • Households can finance and build house and lane level infrastructure – latrines, lane sewer etc. • Households also maintain this infrastructure • Larger-centralised infrastructure can be done by state – large sewers and treatment plants

15. The OPP Methodology – more details • OPP reach residents and inform that this assistance is available through OPP office • People organise and come together at street levels, elected a lane manager • Community ask OPP for survey, estimate and design • Lane manager (activist) to collect money and choose the local mason • OPP will provide the supervision and technical assistance • OPP will not touch community money neither pay for any material, labour etc. – nor finance any demonstration models

16. Further Understanding of the OPP Method: Houghton (Habitat expert) and Khan (OPP) Debate on Approaches: • Khan: Open ended, exploratory approach and evolutionary approach • Houghton: target-oriented, systematic, with a professional and technical focus – high cost

17. Scaling-up and replication in other areas • First Community Organisations, NGOs and Community Groups Adopted • Then some Government Official Replicated the Principles for example – Sindh (provincial) Katchi Abadies Authority (SKAA) • DFID and Water Aid adoption in Faisalabad • Regional alliances in Asia

18. Barriers to OPP programme • Lack of accountability in some govt. departments • Cost of Engineering standards • Consultancy culture among certain donors • Recently – race to MDG targets and large scale coverage

19. Integration with larger programmes and un-bundling • A larger Asian Development Project for Orangi – the issue of Integration • Recently, ADB financed the programme of large sewers and OPP advised on integration and community supervised the construction.

20. OPP after Akhtar Hameed Khan • Now OPP runs as a Research and Training Institute (RTI) • Other Programmes Run as Charitable Trusts • There is also Urban Resource Centre (URC) and pro-poor professionals • Citizens Assessment of Foreign Projects

21. Key Lessons from Orangi Programme • Cost of infrastructure and services can be reduced • Urban poor can finance and sustain primary infrastructure and services • OPP model create ownership and build self esteem of urban poor • Replication is gradual and depends on the local leadership/ willingness • Open ended exploratory approach with continuous presence and trust can work