5.4 Alternative options
During Steven Sugden's visit, the possible options were
reviewed, in order to achieve sustainable sanitation in some areas of
Cap-Haitien. The areas and their characteristics were reviewed and some options
discussed, which has ultimately led to a joint report written for Oxfam, GTIH
and PROTOS. Part of this work is out of the scope of this dissertation, but
the researcher's work was used to devise these options. The following sections
summarise the recommendations and the research's input in them.
6 If one wants to be cynical, he could say that Oxfam
should start the project in 2012, so that most latrines
would still be operational in 2015 for the MDGs' evaluation...
5.4.1 Definition of «sustainable
sanitation»
The workshop was used to reflect on the situation with partner
organisations, and to discuss the possible alternative solutions.
The question «Why do you want to do this project?»
generated a debate which high- lighted some differences in opinion between the
partners. These are likely to need revisiting and reinforcing in the future,
but after some discussion it was agreed (per- haps reluctantly by some of the
participants) that the project was a health, and not an infrastructure project.
Any infrastructure provided by the project has be capable of be- ing
maintained, be accessible and be affordable to the intended target
beneficiaries and have a positive impact on their health. An explanation of
the transmission patterns of faecal-oral diseases was done using the
F-diagram.
The group was asked to define the concepts of
«sanitation» (assainissement) and «sus- tainable»
(durable). The group definition of sanitation was:
· «Make clean / healthy7 what is
not»
· «Take out what the environment unhealthy /
unclean»
· «It includes water management (wastewater,
rainwater), solid waste management, excreta management8
(construction, emptying), and drinking water».
The group definition of «sustainable» was:
· «It works / carries on without the
project»
· «Local people make it work»
· «Quality is maintained by the public
service»
· «The population applies hygiene rules»
The input of workers from the Ministry of Public Health is
visible from the last two items. Steven Sugden suggested five items for a
definition of «sustainable sanitation», which can be seen in Appendix
D, page 70. These are:
1. Latrines are being consistently used by all members of the
family,
2. The community / society is maintaining latrine coverage at
100% without external support,
3. There is no significant risk to community health from
disposal techniques,
4. There is no significant degradation of the environment,
5. It can be maintained over a prolonged period i.e. 20
years.
The following options have been discussed during the workshop, in
the light of these definitions.
7 In French, this is translated by the adjective sain,
which applies both to a person («healthy») and to an environment
(«clean»).
8 «Excreta management» translates better the
French Gestion des excréta than the more usual «Excreta
disposal».
5.4.2 The Arborloo in Mansui
When walking through the Mansui area, small banana tree
outcrops can be seen close to most of the houses. These are planted by the
occupants of the houses and on investiga- tion it was found that the crop is
eaten, rather than sold to supplement income; «We eat them when we can
afford a little oil to cook them in» explained Mrs Accilien Roboam during
an in-depth interview. She knew the trees would grow better with fertiliser,
but she could not do this as artificial fertiliser is too expensive. She also
grows papaw and granadilla. The land in the area is poor and has a thin
covering of soil from which water
is quickly lost. Digging a deep pit is possible, but very hard
work as many rocks have to
be removed. Mrs Roboam lives with her husband Tibo, who used to
work as a carpenter
at the Hotel Beck before it closed down; they have nine
daughters.
Her grandmother used to live in the country where she apparently
used to defecate
by hanging her backside over a low hanging bough of a tree and
defecating on the ground below after which it was spread on the ground to act
as fertiliser. The practice
of ecological sanitation is therefore not new and unlikely to
present any major cultural obstacles. Apparently the practice was stopped
because they were told it presented a health risk.
Those elements indicate that the area of Mansui could be
considered for an eco- sanitation approach based on the Arborloo design. One
resident stated he had build a wooden platform for a latrine instead of the
usual concrete slab. This low cost option would be a good starting point for
designing a low cost Arborloo. Cheap superstructures
are not unknown either, with branches covered with old rice bags
for instance.
The interview with the Roboam family revealed that they had
started to dig a very large pit for a latrine one year ago, about 4 m deep and
lined with rocks. A mason was raising it by about 40 cm using rocks and cement;
Tibo Roboam wanted to finish the latrine in the next 6 months, «if he
manages to get enough money». This denoted a strong motivation towards
getting a latrine.
In order to know whether the Arborloo could be an appropriate
solution for Mansui,
the researcher first talked about the Arborloo with the Roboam
family, then spent two days with them to construct a simple Arborloo together.
The pit took less than three hours to dig, wood was bought as a gift to make
the slab and a seat (for less than US$
20), and the superstructure was made out of branches and rice
bags (Figure 5.8 below). The outcome of this test is not known yet, as it takes
about five months to fill up the pit, and some eight more months for the banana
trees to bear fruits. Those outcomes can not
be included in this dissertation but will be useful to the
ongoing project, if follow-up is correctly done; Oxfam is now supposed to do
the follow-up.
If the latrine works as expected, Mr Tibo Roboam could be
involved in the promotion
of this latrine, and his carpenter skills could be used to create
seats for latrines; a price
of about US$ 20 may be small enough to allow families to buy this
themselves, without
the need for an external organisation to intervene. Other areas
than Mansui could also
be suitable for this kind of sanitation; urban agriculture being
a requirement, peri-urban areas located in the West, South and South-East could
be considered as well.
Figure 5.8: The finished test Arborloo in Mansui
c
5.4.3 The product-service package in Shada
The area of Shada presents more challenges given the high
population density and high space constraint, the proximity of the water table,
the high level of poverty and the difficulty to access narrow paths. During
the survey in this zone, dissatisfaction with current defecation practices was
clear with 94 % of interviewees either «unhappy» or «very
unhappy»; 73 % of those without a latrine expressed an intention to get
one, yet only 14 % of them had a higher level of intention (by identifying a
site, digging a pit
or quoting some prices). The main constraint expressed was
money (100 % of those with an intention to build), followed by space (27 %).
Amongst the 8 people without an intention to get a latrine, 4 said they lacked
money, 3 that they lacked space available, and 1 was going to move shortly.
No sanitation technology could work in this area without
addressing those two con- straints of money of space: the answer would be to
design a latrine which is both afford-
able and small. Possible designs are presented in Appendix F.1.1
and prices compared in
Table F.1. The main idea would be to give people the choice
between multiple options: they would be free to choose expensive latrines in
bricks if they want and can afford it, but there would also be cheap options
available. In order to reduce the cost of the main elements, the cheapest
option would feature a pit lined with a 200 litres drum and a simple wooden
slab. Local masons and GTIH engineers were asked for realistic prices, and it
was found that the cheapest design would be between US$ 25 and US$ 37. An
intermediate design, with a domed concrete slab, a pedestal and a simple
superstructure with a ventilation pipe would cost between US$ 100 and US$
125.
Several problems can be expected with this design:
· The real willingness to pay is unknown; the focus
group discussion was used to estimate it.
· Local engineers raised the point that such a cheap
model would be «unacceptable» because «it does not conform to
the standards». During the workshop, there were discussions about the
purpose of a latrine and whether the project should promote «low
standard» latrines.
· A small pit means that emptying is required more
often, creating the need for a reliable pit emptying system.
Pit emptying
Pit emptying is a key issue in here. A possible solution
would be to have a micro- enterprise responsible for this, hiring bayakou using
dedicated tools, such as a hand- pump for latrine pits currently being
designed; the bayakou would thus work in better conditions. They would
transfer the pit contents to a transfer station, and from there a regular
emptying would be done by vacuum tankers such as those from Jedco. Payment
would be made to this micro-entreprise, who would in turn pay the bayakou,
hence en- suring that there is no illegal dumping. To reduce the cost, the
transfer station could
be towable to the final disposal site (Figure 5.9). The
detail of these solutions can be found in Appendices F.1.2, F.1.3 and F.1.4 on
page 77. In order to make this business sustainable, there has to be a profit
to allow for expansion; calculations can be found in table F.3.
Willingness to pay
The Focus Group Discussion with women from Shada was used to get
a better idea of
the willingness to pay, both for a latrine and for its emptying.
The questions generated a debate between participants themselves. It appeared
that, as women, they did not know
the price of a latrine, only knew that it was unaffordable, and
decided to ask a man; this
Figure 5.9: Old small vacuum tanker, belonging to the MSPP.
It could be converted into a towable transfer station for
decreasing transport costs.
man was also a member of the organisation, as women said that
«they needed a man to take care of this kind of technical issues».
When asked about «an affordable price for a small
latrines», the debate first gave
the impression that HT$ 800 to HT$ 1000 (US$ 100 to 125) would
be worth giving consideration: most participants said that «they could
afford a latrine at this price», but that «[they] knew that some of
their neighbours couldn't». However, at a certain point
the man «understood» that the researcher was working
for an international NGO, and the discussion switched from a debate to
something closer to a negotiation, as participants then tried to lower the
price to see «if it was possible». One older woman, who had not
talked much before and seemed one of the poorest, said that HT$ 200 (US$ 25)
would be
a low enough price for her. All other participants agreed and
said that they would «bang their heads on the ground to raise money, if a
latrine was this cheap». It is unknown how reliable those figures are,
and it can be expected that the actual willingness to pay would be somewhere in
between.
As for the emptying price, the first reaction was that
«emptying should be a public service, done for free by the MSPP!», as
it used to be this way some 15 years ago. The concept was further explained,
which led to price bids between HT$ 20 and 70 (US$ 2.5
- 8.75) for emptying a full drum (200 litres); this amount was
less than expected, which
led to further ideas, particularly for the final disposal.
Participants also said that they would like to see how it works, and that they
may then be convinced to change their minds.
Space constraint
Shada is known for having a very dense housing arrangement, which
does not leave enough space for latrines; during the survey, this constraint
was claimed by a quarter
of interviewees. Yet, by exploring the area and asking random
households if it was possible to visit their compound, it was found that many
of them had at least a very small backyard, some unused space, or part of a
blocked passageway which is considered as part of their compound. There could
thus be a possibility that a small latrine could be accommodated by most
households.
To investigate this further, participants of the Focus Group
Discussion were asked what size would fit in all or almost households, by
laying planks of wood on the ground and creating a square, then asking «if
a latrine was this big, would you have room for one in your house?».
After discussion, a 1 by 1 m latrine could be accommodated by most of the
group, but there could be issues with the landlord if the latrine was to be
placed inside the house.
5.4.4 Other areas
In other areas, the constraints would be too high to implement
one of these forms of sustainable sanitation: in Petite-Anse (and other areas
of type B), the proximity of the water table and the recurrence of floods make
digging any pit, however small, almost impossible at low cost; transport is
also very difficult. However, this area develops very rapidly, and it can be
expected that within a couple of years, access or at least the nature
of the ground will have improved, and living conditions will
resemble those in Shada. The product-service package for Shada may already be
«exported» to non-flood-prone areas of Petite-Anse, close to the main
road.
In the Cités and other areas of type E, space is
available for building latrines and ac- cess is easy, potentially allowing an
emptying system to be implemented; more residents would be able to afford it
than in other zones given the higher wealth level. However, there are still
space constraints and the fact that the ground is often made of concrete which
could limit designs to high cost options only. As the EPPLS wants to
rehabili- tate communal latrines instead of promoting private latrines, there
could be a conflict of interests.
In Bas-Ravine and other areas of type D, the steep slopes and
the high housing density prevent the use of a low-cost design. Any latrine
would need a reinforced pit to avoid collapsing, due to erosion of the soil; as
access is hard, pit emptying and transport of waste out of the area would be
difficult or at least very expensive; there is not enough space for urban
agriculture, except on the top of the slopes. A cheap and probably preferred
way of emptying would be to knock a hole in the side of the pit and let the
contents drain downhill, cancelling the health benefits previously acquired.
Solid waste
would also be hard to remove, so a collection of plastic bags
would probably not be
feasible either.
For Bas-Ravine, a possible solution would be to let GTIH
improve drainage channels and passageways: as this would improve access, the
conditions for a better emptying system might be fulfilled in the future. Areas
like Bas-Ravine are the most problematic
for sustainable sanitation in Cap-Haitien.
Rémi Kaupp
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