Basic services Multan

Basic Services Multan

At a formal level, basic services policy and legislation recognizes the need to priorities access by the poor to basic services (water, sanitation, refuse removal and electricity), but has proved unable to do so in practice. Part of the problem is distribution of resources between national government and municipalities, and within municipalities. While currently there are transfers – mainly the Local Government Equitable Share and the Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG) - from National Treasury to municipalities, such transfers are inadequate to ensure basic standards in the poorest municipalities, or are spent inappropriately in other areas. For example, in 14 of the poorest South African municipalities (all rural and all in former homeland areas), over 50% of the population (each with an average of approximately 100 000 residents) have no sanitation provision. At the same time, within the richer municipalities, wealthy residents enjoy luxury consumption of water and electricity, with advanced sanitation, whereas people in informal settlements languish with wholly inadequate access to such services.

SERI advocates for greater redistribution of resources. This is done through advocacy, responding to calls for public submissions on law and policy, as well as through enhancing coordination between social movements, as well as other NGOs and CBOs.

Moreover, even where infrastructure is in place, it is common practice to deny low-income tenants (particularly in inner city areas) free basic services and/or to disconnect services. In many instances, basic services do not comply with legislation and regulations. In other instances, local government ghettoizes poor people through indigence registers with onerous conditions, which further exacerbate disempowerment and exclusion. Such problems to the failure of national government to regulate service delivery at local government level, people not knowing their rights, and to a paucity of coordinated research on acceptable basic service options and means of subsidizing basic services for low-income households. SERI hopes to address all aspects of the problem through networking with civil society, engagement with local government and applied research, as well as through litigation where there is systemic non-compliance.

List of water- and sanitation-related legislation and policy.

Basic services Multan emphasis is placed on strengthening policies and institutional frameworks for expanding equitable access to urban basic services, especially for the poor. Policy and technical support is provided to partner countries and local authorities in the areas of water and sanitation, urban waste management, urban mobility and urban energy.