Development Aspects Impressum Editors

San Fernando

The procurement of the tanks in San Fernando was relatively easy compared with the other two cities. The main obstacle was the paperwork required for releasing the tanks from customs. With the introduction of Eco-Tanks, the city has been able to promote decentralized, efficient and relatively easy-to-install wastewater treat- ment. As a pilot project, two low-income communities were chosen for the Eco- Tank installation. The specific challenges and lessons learned from San Fernando are as follows.
Customs/tax regulations: This was a major setback when the city faced paper- work which it had not been aware of in order to import the tanks from overseas. Since the Eco-Tank was the first of its kind to be imported in the Philippines, the authorities were not able to identify it to put it under one of their tax codes. As a result, the city had to cover extra charges for storage at customs. They were also not able to produce the necessary paperwork since the local council regulating the approvals had not been properly briefed on the project. Prior research on import procedures could have prevented the time loss.
Logistical: Soon after San Fernando cleared the tanks from the port, it found out that the road leading to the proposed site was not wide enough for the trucks car- rying the tanks. The same challenge was faced by Negombo City. The city eventu- ally managed to take it to the site but not without having to go through extra work to put the tanks in the proposed site. This could also have been prevented if the city had done a proper survey on construction.
Supply and quality of local technical personnel: San Fernando also lacks the tech- nical skills necessary for the installation and long-term maintenance of the tanks. Premier Products and other partners have provided technical advice on how they should proceed with the implementation, but more needs to be done.

3. Conclusion

The project was designed to offer selected cities the opportunity to gain sustain- able knowledge and expertise in Eco-Tank technology while improving overall sani- tation conditions in each city. The cooperation aimed to eventually transform the pilot projects into replicable projects in other parts of the city or other country towns. UNITAR originally intended to complete the project in three years, starting in April 2008, but owing to a variety of challenges, the project was not completed in the cities until late 2011.

Despite the challenges of the past four years, the beneficiary cities were con- fident that Eco-Tanks can be scaled-up to other sites across their cities. Ultimately, though, sustainability of this and similar projects is contingent on overcoming the shared challenges these and other similar cities face – especially the limited supply of capable technical personnel available locally to lead and support similar projects. Potentially, through future partnerships with national engineering schools and na- tional commitment, local towns and municipalities can enjoy access to capable per-

sonnel for more green technology transfer projects. Finally, across all communities there is still a greater need for continued community awareness-raising sessions to ensure behavioural change among the users and recipients in project areas. Through partnerships with local schools and media, as well as continuing partner- ships with community leaders, the city can continue including users and involving them in awareness-raising campaigns.

Sustainability of the project can also be ensured with continued local gov- ernment leadership as the cities have begun investing in the project’s replication themselves. For example, San Fernando purchased an additional tank using its own resources to be installed at San Francisco Beach, which receives thousands of tour- ists during the summer and wastewater from the toilets runs directly into the sea. Palembang has also taken a keen interest in expanding its sanitation programmes throughout the city after the International Sanitation Seminar in November 2010. Sustainability will be ensured through further partnerships with local manufactur- ing companies for localized Eco-Tank suppliers. The City of San Fernando, with Premier Products, has been searching for partner corporations who may be in- terested in Eco-Tank production in the Philippines. Furthermore, activities such as monitoring of discharged water quality continue in the three cities for data collec- tion, reference purposes and further improvements.
Following on the heels of UNITAR’s fruitful partnership with CITYNET, lessons learned from the Eco-Tank C2C pilots in these first beneficiary cities and the con- tinued support of implementing partners, UNITAR will seek to continue develop- ing replicable, hands-on capacity development projects to assist interested local governments to decentralize green technologies. In 2012, UNITAR, CITYNET and other partners will focus not only on increased C2C on Eco-San technologies, but also on other waste management solutions for local development, such as biogas, while integrating the lessons learned. Additionally, to build on the key challenges observed and the local capacity gaps to absorb new technological solutions for basic services, UNITAR will also focus its local development training programmes in Asia to address capacity challenges in sustainable project cycle management and financing for eco-efficient technology transfer and for increased South–South and North–South cooperation in greening local economies.
As urban populations continue to grow in Asia and the gap between the privi- leged and the underprivileged widens, health and sanitation issues will continue to be one of the biggest challenges for local governments. Local governments in the region are not yet well enough equipped to tackle simultaneous pressures of a growing population, upgrading to greener cities and implementing large-scale investments. Cities can, however, share experiences and practices through facilitat- ed training programmes that enable local governments to lead their development agendas, while accumulating the knowledge, skills and technologies to develop as greener cities.