Colombia - La Guajira Water and Sanitation Infrastructure and Service Management Project : restructuring

The objective of the La Guajira Water and Sanitation Infrastructure and Service Management Project for Colombia is to improve the quality of water supply and sanitation services in urban, peri-urban areas, and rural areas of La Guajira, moving towards complete coverage with continuous supply of potable water for urban areas. The project consists of three components: (i) urban water supply and sewerage infrastructure; (ii) rural pilot; and (iii) program management and analytical activities. The project aims to improve water supply and sanitation (WSS) services to over 300,000 urban residents and improve water services for over 7,000 rural indigenous Wayuu people located in one of Colombia’s least developed regions with a high incidence of poverty, severe water scarcity, low performance in WSS provision, and weak public sector management. But it is important to clarify that investments in rural areas are focused on access to water only. The current PDO, which was modified at the second restructuring on November 30, 2011 to include water in rural areas in its geographic scope seems to indicate that the quality of both water and sanitation services in rural areas will be improved. However, the project never envisaged any investments in rural sanitation.