Millennium Challenge Coordinating Unit (MCCU) in partnership with the Guma Valley Water Company (GVWC), Adam Smith International (ASI) and the Ministry of Water Resources have on Tuesday December 15, 2020 concluded the successful implementation of the Threshold Program, at the Atlantic Lumley Hotel in Freetown.
The US$ 44.4 million Threshold Program was a four-year partnership between the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) and the Government of Sierra Leone. The program was signed in November 2015 and entered into force in February 2016. Guma Valley benefited about USD$10 million from the program. One focus of the program was to effectively deliver water and electricity services, with a focus on the greater Freetown area. Another focus area of the program was to support reforms increasing transparency and accountability in the delivery of these services to limit opportunities for corruption.
In his welcome address, the Managing Director of Guma Valley Water Company, Maada Kpenge said when the MCC Threshold Program started some 38 months ago, the question on the mind of every staff of Guma was: “why would the program invest so much on strengthening the institution rather than on the infrastructure?”.
Mr. Kpenge added that it is only now that Guma is realising that the program was a good one and it has delivered for Guma Valley and the Urban Water Supply, deliverable that has not been achieved with other previous interventions in Guma.
“It is one of the best interventions that Guma has had; it has mapped the road to universal access to water supply and also how Guma can create a sustainable water supply system for Freetown,” he said.
The Guma Managing Director thanked the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), the Millennium Challenge Coordinating Unit (MCCU) and Consultants – SMEC, COBA/CONCEPT, ASI and others who worked tirelessly on the program to make it a success.
Speaking at the workshop, the Country Manager of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), Matt Langhenry said the workshop is the culmination of a lot of hard work the various consultants, MCCU and Guma have put together over the past few years during the implementation of the threshold program.
“Today we bring together what the Threshold program has done; and one tangible outcome is Guma’s performance when we did the Result Based Financing (RBF) program. Guma was able to meet all of its targets – scoring 120% and was therefore eligible to receive a reward of US$ 1.1 million for its effort.”
Mr. Langhenry said he was very proud of the threshold program as it has made Guma to be more responsive to its customers. He thanked the Minister of Water Resources Philip K. Lansana for his strategic leadership given to the program.
Mr. Langhenry thanked ASI for working side by side with Guma and with the Aberdeen and Kingtom communities.
In her virtual presentation, the Chief Executive Officer of MCCU, Ndeye Koroma said that the partnership with Guma to successfully implement the Institutional Strengthening activity under the Threshold program is something everyone should be proud of.
“We have been able to improve the financial viability and operational efficiency of Guma Valley; we have also been able to successfully implement the RBF activity with Guma, that has seen it perform above the target set for it. This is not something the MCCU did, this was an achievement by Guma itself through the support provided by ASI because Guma has a good leadership in place.”
Madam Koroma added that the MCCU is collaborating with Guma implement the DMA and Kiosk Pilot Demonstration activity in Aberdeen and Kingtom, and that sustainable interventions are being put in place to solve the medium-term water supply issues in Greater Freetown.
In his keynote address, the Minister of Water Resources, Philip K. Lansana said the Government of Sierra Leone effort in dealing with water issues has been enhanced with the advent of the Threshold program, leading to improvement in the water supply system in Freetown.
The Minister added that Government has been making every effort to meet Goal six of the Sustainable Development Goals, adding that “this is reflected in some of the development projects that Government have undertaken”.
He said that under the threshold program, water regulations and the Urban WASH Roadmap have been developed and are being implemented, and that the program has also supported the establishment of the National Water Resources Management Agency.
The Country’s Water Resources Chief also thanked the MCC for supporting the conditions assessments of the Guma Valley existing system; “for us to get it right, we need to know what we have, what is wrong with it and we need to know how to go about to fix it. They (MCC) have laid the foundation which we will base our development on, because when you understand the issues with data and evidence; you will be able to move ahead”.
The Minister praised Guma for performing beyond expectation during the program especially under the RBF activity. “It gives me comfort to know that all Guma needs is support, when you support Guma, you shall see results,” he said.
Making his presentation, the Team Lead of ASI, Ken Wright said his organization was tasked under the Threshold Program to deliver on three key deliverables – WASH Sector Reform, Guma Institutional Capacity and DMA and Kiosk Pilot.
By Stephen V. Lansana
18/12/2020. ISSUE NO: 7968