On 30th May 2023, Mr. Tetsuya Yamada, Chief Representative of JICA Sri Lanka Office handed over the Final Report of “Data Collection Survey for Efficient and Effective Project Implementation with NWSDB” to Mr. Nishantha Ranatunga, Chairman of National Water Supply and Drainage Board (NWSDB).
Over the past 30 years, JICA has contributed over USD 1.1 billion to meet the genuine needs of water supply and sanitation and assisted in supplying safe drinking water to more than 3.5 million people, about 15 percent of the population in Sri Lanka. Utilizing the rich experiences in project implementation with NWSDB, JICA has conducted the Survey to join hands with NWSDB for further improving project implementation efficiency.
NWSDB Chairman, Mr. Nishantha Ranatunga appreciated the assistance given by the JICA and the Government of Japan for the development of Water Supply and Sanitation Sectors in Sri Lanka. He further, emphasized the fact that the NWSDB had been in the process of introducing reforms across the organization focusing on enhancing efficiency and effectiveness of current processes.
He thanked JICA for examining the bottlenecks/issues still existing in the procurement and construction management areas and provided recommendations to NWSDB, e.g., enhancing IT-based Project Monitoring System, establishing well-standardized quality assurance system, to drive efficiencies across the project life cycle and accelerate project implementation.
General Manager, NWSDB, Dr. (Eng.) Wasantha Illangasinghe stated that NWSDB expected JICA to support improving the productivity of NWSDB’s various functions through introducing Electronic Document Management System (EDMS) and briefed about the advantages of implementing an EDMS. On the same day, a kick-off meeting on EDMS was held with DX Office at JICA Headquarters. DX Office has set up the DX Lab functions with in-house IT consulting firms, who would provide technical supports with NWSDB to conceptualize and materialize EDMS initiatives from IT engineer’s perspective.
JICA Chief Representative, Mr. Yamada stated that “JICA would like to appreciate NWSDB’s initiatives to improve their business comprehensively. The Survey was conducted with Ernst & Young, Sri Lanka who had mobilized water industry experts in Sri Lanka and could have utilized their global network. I believe the implementation of our recommendations based on the JICA’s and E&Y’s knowledge and expertise would enhance NWSDB’s project management capacity. Also, it is our great pleasure to further support NWSDB for becoming more efficient utility organization.”
