Impact of improvement of water supply on household economy in a squatter area of Manila

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Abstract

To estimate the impact of the improvement of water supply, a comparative study on water collection and household expenditure on water was conducted between a former squatter community with an improved water supply (Leveriza: LE) and a typical squatter community with public water faucets (Maestranza: MA) in Manila, the Philippines. Data were collected from 201 structured household interviews and a focus group discussion among housewives in each community. To measure the time spent collecting water, observations of private and public water faucets were conducted. The residents in LE enjoyed significantly larger quantities of water from private water connections than in MA, where only three public water faucets were available as a water source. Conversely, the unit price of water in LE was much lower than in MA. In LE, 72.1% of the households started working for more income using time saved through the improvement of water supply and the proportion of the households under the poverty threshold was reduced from 55.6% to 29.9%. In MA, 68.0% of the households expressed their willingness to work for more income when time spent collecting water was saved. It would be possible for MA to reduce the proportion of the households under the poverty threshold through the improvement of the water supply. The results of the study indicated that the improvement of water supply would possibly encourage urban slum residents to increase their household incomes through reallocating time saved to income-generating activities. The underserved residents spent more money for less water compared to those with access to private water connections. In MA, it took 3–4 h, on average, to complete one water collecting task, even though the nearest public water faucet was within 100 m of any housing unit. This suggests that the definition of accessibility to safe water need to be reconsidered when discussing the urban poor.

Introduction

The urban population, particularly in developing economies, is rapidly increasing due to both natural and social population growths. The United Nations has estimated that the urban population will account for 56% of the total global population by 2010 (WHO, 1992). In many cities of developing countries, expansion of the population and of the residential areas of urban squatters has been accelerated and accompanied by urbanization. The increase of urban squatters has, in general, caused various problems in relation to public health and socioeconomic conditions (Yusof & Kwai-Sim, 1990). One of the major difficulties among urban squatters contributing to these problems is the lack of access to water supply. For the majority of the world’s population living in the urban slums of the tropics, there is no possibility with existing resources of having the same high level of water supply enjoyed by the people of Europe and North America (Cairncross & Feachem, 1993).

Metro Manila, Republic of the Philippines, is one of the Southeast Asian cities with a large scale of urban squatter population. The estimated population residing in the squatter communities of Metro Manila region was 2.39 million in 1993, which accounted for 30.5% of the total of the region. To cope with the situation, the Government formerly introduced a series of resettlement programs into the suburb of Metro Manila. These programs, however, were not very successful because the former squatter residents eventually migrated back to the same areas as they used to be squatting in. This was because the resettlement areas were, in many cases, lacking in basic social services such as access to water supply and other amenities. Also, the urban poor in Metro Manila, consisting mainly of the squatters, have been playing an indispensable role in both the formal and informal economic sectors, i.e. construction labor, loading at ports, street vending, etc. For this reason, it has been said that the industries in Metro Manila could not function as they do at present without the squatters’ labor forces (Gregorio-Medel, 1989).

Under these circumstances, the Zonal Improvement Program (ZIP) has been implemented with advice and loan assistance from the World Bank since 1985. The ZIP provides squatters with land ownership and basic infrastructure such as private water connections, private toilets and electric power supply to every housing unit, and paved roadways in the community. As a result of the intervention of the ZIP, illegal settlers in a squatter community become legal residents of the relevant area without relocating to another area (NHA, 1983). It also aims to build up self-reliance of the squatters by providing loans to purchase land and to set up a residential environment, as mentioned above.

The cumulative number of completed ZIP sites increased from 14 in 1985 to 41 in 1992 (there were 15 on-going ZIP sites as of 1993). The population benefiting from the ZIP amounted to 706,185 people in 1993 that accounted for 30% of the total squatter population in Metro Manila (NHA, 1993). The extension of the program to other squatter communities with a large amount of funds from the World Bank may indicate the level of feasibility and appropriateness of the ZIP to a large extent. However, the past evaluation did not analyze the detailed impact on the household economy but simply presented the generic financial results from a macro point of view (World Bank, 1993). In order to not only measure the level of replicability of the ZIP, but also to deepen the knowledge and lessons to be learned through the experience of the ZIP, it is important and necessary to analyze what changes in daily lifestyle were brought about in the communities at the household level by the intervention of the program. This paper presents an estimation of the impact of water supply improved by the ZIP on the household economy by comparing a former squatter community affected by the ZIP with a typical squatter community.

Section snippets

Research questions and hypotheses

According to an estimation made by the Philippine Government, approximately 70% of the households in the squatter communities had no means to access to water for drinking and all other purposes, other than to purchase it at public faucets by spending more time and money (PCUP, 1992a). On the other hand, it is assumed that the residents in the ZIP-affected areas succeeded in reducing time spent on water collection through the improvement of water supply, i.e. provision of private water faucets

Sample selection

Data regarding water collection in the household prior to the implementation of the ZIP was not available. Therefore, to estimate the impact of improvement of water supply, this study compared a ZIP area (study group) with a non-ZIP area (control group) during the period from August to September 1993.

Data regarding all the 41 completed ZIP sites in Metro Manila were collected and reviewed (NHA, 1985). Leveriza (LE) was selected as the ZIP area for this study because it was one of the typical

Results

In LE, a direct water connection to every housing unit improved the population per water faucet ratio from 551.3 in 1985 to 3.2 in 1993. In MA, there were three public water faucets and its population per water faucet was 458.0 in 1993. Thus, the population per water faucet in MA as of 1993 was at a similar level to that of LE in 1985 prior to the implementation of the ZIP (Table 1).

Time constraints on income generation

Fig. 4 presents the hypothetical process of the increase of household incomes through the improvement of water supply based on the results of this study. The level of water supply in LE as of 1983 was similar to that in MA as of 1993 in terms of both population per water faucet and time spent waiting at public water faucets and filling containers with water. In MA, 68.6% of the household members in charge of water collection expressed their willingness to work for more income, and in LE 72.1%

Conclusion and recommendations

We confirmed the first hypothesis with some limitations, showing that residents in LE and MA, respectively, reallocated and had intention to reallocate time saved through the improvement of water supply to income-generating activities. The probability of and required time necessary for finding a job for more income further need to be more precisely explored and assessed. We also confirmed the second hypothesis, recognizing a substantial increase in incomes and the reduction of the proportion of

Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge Ruben N. Caragay and Marilyn Crisosotomo of the College of Public Health, University of the Philippines for their advice in the study design. We are also grateful to Sumiko Ogawa of the Department of Preventive Medicine, University of the Ryukyus, for her advice in data analyses. We would like to thank Marshall Smith, Department of Health Policy and Planning, the University of Tokyo, for his technical support. Finally, a special word of thanks is delivered to

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