SOUTH PACIFIC REPS AT REGIONAL WATER UTILITY WORKSHOP IN NADI

Forty senior representatives of South Pacific water utilities are benefitting from the Procurement and Contract Management Workshop, organised by the Pacific Water and Wastewater Association (PWWA) and facilitated by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), which is under way in Nadi this week (12/3 to 16/3).

Officiating at the opening, PWWA Chief Executive Officer, Ms Pitolau Lusia Sefo-Leau said the aim of the workshop was contribute to building capacity, “especially in improving the overall good governance of each of your organisations.

“The focus area and topic of this workshop was identified as a high priority area across all member utilities for capacity building. We witness that today with the high number of participants from this part of the Pacific,” said Ms Sefo-Leau.

Workshop facilitator, Principal Procurement Specialist and Head of the Procurement Unit for the Pacific Region at the Asian Development Bank, Mr Eric Gagnon, commented on the “amazing and very active” participation by the representatives of water utilities from throughout the South Pacific.

Mr Chris Marlow, contract workshop facilitator and Senior Civil Engineer, Johnstone McGee & Gandy, consultants to ADB, also commented favourably in the level of participation by the water utility delegates, saying this made it easier to share his knowledge and experience regarding the administration of contracts, once awarded.

Amongst the Water Authority of Fiji (WAF) representatives at the workshop is General Manager for Special Projects, Mr Taitusi Vakadravuyaca, who said the workshop is “invaluable” and would benefit WAF in the many aspects of managing ADB funded projects.

“This workshop has been a great learning experience for me and my team. We will be able to put what we have learnt into practice when managing our projects and contracts. We also thank PWWA and ADB for organising this workshop for us,” said Mr Vakadravuyaca.

Mr Gagnon said, “It has been a very enriching experience for the participants and also for the ADB, in terms of learning the preoccupations and challenges faced by water utilities throughout the region.”

“The same workshop will be conducted next week in Guam for northern hemisphere PWWA member utilities, and a tremendous turnout is expected there as well.”

 Other water utilities represented at the workshop include the Samoa Water Authority, New Caledonia Water, Solomon Island Water Authority, Independent Water Schemes Association of Samoa, the Ministry of Utilities and Industries of Tuvalu, Infrastructure Cook Islands, Eda Ranu of Papua New Guinea, Water PNG, Nauru Utility Corporation, Department of Water Resources of Vanuatu, Kiribati’s Public Utilities Board.