Projekter for milliarder har ikke nået de fattige, som aldrig blev trænet effektivt i at drive og vedligeholde dem og selv når det er tilfældet overlever talrige projekter ikke på sigt, fordi de mangler tilskud og interesse fra lokale myndigheder.
A British parliamentary inquiry has heard that more than 650 million US dollar (3,57 milliarder DKR) worth of European Union aid to Africa may have been badly spent, BBC online reports Thursday.
The House of Lords Committee on External Affairs is looking into about 1,3 billion dollar worth of water projects in sub-Saharan Africa during the last ten years.
Fewer than half of a sample (udpluk) of 23 projects met poor people’s needs, the committee heard from EU auditors.
The European Commission said that in most projects, several needs were identified of which at least one or more were met. A lot of projects were very ambitious and some needs, mainly secondary ones, were not fulfilled.
Water aid projects are usually a combination of supplying clean water and, equally importantly, building toilets that stop the spread of disease.
The auditors found that the equipment managers chose – like pumps and pipes (rør) – was, on the whole, appropriate.
In some cases, not enough local people were trained in how to maintain the necessary equipment – so after a few years it just stopped being used.
But the biggest problem was getting long-term agreement from the communities and governments of poorer countries on how the water supply would be funded.
