Chile’s water and sanitation service authority SISS (Superintendencia de Servicios Sanitarios) has received an award from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) for the success of its reforms and water management programme, which have been implemented over the last decade. SISS, a decentralized organisation with its own budget, controls water and sanitation services in urban areas of Chile. Its main responsibilities are to set rates for sanitary services for the economy ministry, oversee compliance with norms, and regulate the control of environmental waste. It also receives user complaints, assesses their validity and acts on them

Some of the achievements in the Chilean sanitation sector in recent years include reaching 99.8% potable water coverage; 95.3% sewerage coverage; increasing wastewater treatment coverage from 16.7% in 1998 to 82.6% in 2008 (this is expected to reach 98% in 2011); the cleanup of the country’s coastline and beaches; implementing fresh water irrigation; and reducing infant mortality.

The award was delivered by IDB president Luis Alberto Moreno and the president of the Femsa foundation, José Antonio Fernández to SISS head Magaly Espinosa in Mexico city on 16 November 2009, during the IWA Development Congress.

Web site: Chile – Superintendencia de Servicios Sanitarios

Source: BNamericas.com [subscription site], 18 Nov 2009

Tags: governance, latin america & caribbean, urban wash