Evaluation : Liberia municipal water project II midterm and capital improvement project final performance evaluation

LMWP II provides construction oversight and quality assurance for CIP, a separate USAID-funded activity, which involved the construction of water supply systems in three cities: Robertsport, Sanniquellie, and Voinjama. LMWP II also provides capacity building and direct support to the Liberia Water and Sewer Corporation (LWSC) to sustainably operate and manage the three systems. The evaluation examined infrastructure planning, construction and quality, capacity building, and cost sustainability. It found that the completion of the construction and hand-over to LWSC was delayed, yet the overall quality of the infrastructure generally conforms to design specifications and national standards. Under USAID’s accessibility criteria, LMWP II has nearly met its objective of providing access to improved water supply to 90 percent of the three cities’ population. At the midterm, LWSC is unable to take ownership for managing these systems and needs continued LMWP II capacity building and advocacy for buy-in and financial transparency to improve by the end of the activity. The water systems do not appear to be financially sustainable, mainly due to the fact that expected subsidies from the Government of Liberia (GOL), meant to support the LWSC, have not yet been disbursed, as was agreed upon in the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between USAID and the GOL. To ensure financial sustainability, USAID should continue advocating for GOL to disburse LWSC’s subsidies. The evaluation also recommends looking into funding and network expansion modalities to facilitate household and business connections or increase the distribution networks for improved revenue generation. With continued community awareness of these systems, these next steps will help USAID achieve its overall Development Objective of improving community health through access to clean water