Institutional Support to the Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning (mesp) and River Basin Authorities cris n° 2008/162-152

5Factors ensuring sustainability

5.1Appropriate technology

Appropriate Project tools, technologies and techniques were selected after consideration of their easy use and maintenance, update support, reputation, industry acceptance, priority needs and partner abilities.

For the Water Information System the following technologies were selected:

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  ArcGIS, produced by ESRI, was selected as the GIS software. Research showed that this is the industry de facto software used by 70% of GIS users worldwide so it was selected for this Project. ArcGIS has some short-comings, such as ease of transfer of products and cost, but other alternatives were not deemed appropriate.
  
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  It was decided to host the data catalogue and a web-portal in the Ministry of Public Services (MPS) to increase ownership of the tool.
  
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  Specific and simple databases were created in ACCESS for capturing of hydrological times series, water quality data and water body characterisation.
  
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  An SqL GIS client-server application was developed for the WD for permit issuing, which facilitates the process management and identification of permit applicants and abstraction sites.
  
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  At the request of the HMIK, an already existing Data and Information System for hydrological data called WISKI was reinstalled by the Project. In a 5-day session, staff form the HMIK and the WD were given training on the set-up, data manipulation and other functions of the software. The Kisters AG, which is based in Aachen offered a 2-year free of charge maintenance for HMIK’s hydrological data. The programme is currently hosted on the company server. Access is ensured through a web-link.
  

The choice to host the data catalogue and web-portal in the MSP had a major inconvenience: it increased their vulnerability to MSP server failure and maintenance problems. This occurred many times during the Project, which resulted in the data catalogue and web-portal being inaccessible.

WISKI needs budget for maintenance

The WISKI software is a very useful tool especially to control, correct and visualise synthetic data. However, the HMIK capacity to maintain it is questionable. Running WISKI requires a well functioning internet link and a responsible person to liaise with Kisters when problems occur. HMIK had problems maintaining the access to WISKI data. In 2011, a budget to pay for Kisters’ services will also need to be secured, if the HMIK still want to benefit from these services.

For river ecology and groundwater monitoring the Project experts trained staff to use simple and robust methods, which did not require expensive equipment. Simple software were utilised to process data according to EU standards.

For River Basin modelling the most important selection criterion for software selection was the requirement that it should be possible to use it for training purposes: WEAP was the best software in this regard.

OASIS for flood risk assessment

As for flood risk mapping, the BRL’s OASIS model was chosen. Flood risk maps of good quality were produced very quickly.

The ToR for the Water Supply and Sanitation Investment Plan has a strong appropriate technology component, which takes into account local circumstances for building Waste Water Treatment Plants (WWTP) and sewage systems. Selection criteria for building WWTP in Kosovo should include, for example, affordability of maintenance, energy consumption and protection against vandalism, etc.

5.2Effective mainstreaming cross-cutting Issues (CCI)

Democracy and human rights are both Cross Cutting Issues. The possibility to receive compensation when you are a victim of someone else’s action is important in this regard. This right is well respected when the judiciary system is functioning correctly. Currently in Kosovo, law enforcement in the environmental field is very limited. This is partly due to reasons linked to the degree of preparedness of institutions to enforce laws but other reasons are important too.

Discussions with people concerned by river ecology deterioration revealed that it was difficult to raise a case in court, because they feared reprisals in the aftermath of a judgment. Collecting evidence to build a case or even filming can be dangerous. For instance, it was reported that Project staff filming and taking photos of gravel extractions was threatened. It was observed in many places, that impunity prevails for such illegal activities.

In Kosovo, there are few pressure groups in the environmental field and, as a result wrongdoers are not stopped, punished, fined or deterred from environmental damaging activities.

5.3Institutional and management capacity (public and private)

In the public sector, the institutional capability could be improved by better management practices, quality control and by rewarding officers who contribute to problem solving. However, in practice, given the low pay and poor conditions of employment for civil servants it is difficult to increase staff motivation.

Apart from increasing pay, sources of motivation include participation in the achievements of well-considered professional work and activities, which can have a positive impact on ordinary people’s lives now or in the future. Showing and advertising MESP achievements can also enhance people’s confidence in their administration.

The continuous development of practical professional know-how is another source of motivation. The Project has provided important training material, practical tools that can be used to achieve noticeable progress in this regard. Interesting work experience can also be valued in a CV and appreciated in the job market.

In this respect, an issue that constantly came up was the lack of attention given to computer maintenance. Breakdowns and computer viruses were common in WD computers, which lead to lose of data, poor data acquisition, intermittent training and loss of professional confidence.

As far as the sustainability of Project’s technical assets are concerned, it is recommended making sure that the partner staff have or are given required equipment and guidance to practice the methods and procedures that they have learnt from the Project. This is of particular importance for the implementation of first steps of the WFD, which include water body characterisation and the development of WFD compatible monitoring programmes (see Chapter on conclusions and proposals).

To maintain the know-how and the institutional capacity developed during the Project, the MESP also needs to make sure that key staff trained by the Project continue to work in the MESP and do not quickly find another job elsewhere. Technical guidance will be needed beyond the end of the Project especially for quality control, data processing and result interpretations.

For fields not yet covered by MESP, specialists and additional qualified persons are needed, e.g. hydrology, hydrogeology, modelling, flood risk mapping. It should be clarified which part of such activities should not be tendered to private companies or to the university or other specialised partners. The long-term experts who were recruited by the Project gained considerable experience and this is a very valuable asset for sustainability, because they have developed skills to support the application of procedures and methods.

The Project observed that it was sometimes difficult to find local experts with the appropriate technical background. In general, the quality of local experts’ work has to be carefully checked as quality control is not well developed even in engineering fields.

As far as management is concerned, decisions have to be better recorded and achieved. Methods and procedures to be applied in the WD and HMIK should be documented to provide guidelines to the staff employed. The manuals prepared under the Project could be helpful in this regard.

Initiatives taken by WD and HMIK to improve results and coordination with other institutions should be better supported and guided by the WD and HMIK management.