Exploring Private Sector Engagement for Faecal Sludge Emptying and Transport Business in Khulna, Bangladesh

• Main Authors: Shirish Singh, Ankita Gupta, Muhammed Alamgir, Damir Brdjanovic
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-03-01
• Series: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
• Subjects: faecal sludge; emptying and transport; enabling environment; financial analysis; private sector
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/5/2755
• ISSN: 1661-7827; 1660-4601

In Khulna, Bangladesh, mechanical faecal sludge (FS) emptying and transport (E&T) service is provided by community development committees (CDCs) and the Khulna City Corporation (KCC). Without considering capital expenditure and depreciation, financial analysis for one year revealed that a CDC-1 m³ vacutug made a profit of Bangladeshi taka (BDT) 145,780 (USD $1746) whereas a KCC-2 m³ vacutug was in the loss of BDT 218,179 (USD $2613). There is a need to engage the private sector for sustainable service provision. Some of the key elements of enabling the environment for private sector engagement are policy/strategy, institutional and regulatory framework, implementation capacity, and financial viability. Existing policy/strategy/frameworks acknowledged the need and suggested plans for private sector engagement, and decentralised authority to city corporations. With increasing private–public partnership projects and collaboration in the sanitation sector, capacity of the KCC and the private sector are increasing. Financial viability of the FS E&T business is primarily dependent on the number of trips and the emptying fee. For the E&T business to be financially viable, a 2 m³ vacutug should make six trips/day (internal rate of return (IRR)—13%, discount rate—6.5%) with an emptying fee of BDT 750 (USD $9)/m³. Despite the lack of operative guidelines for faecal sludge management (FSM), enabling the environment for private sector engagement in FS E&T business in Khulna seems favourable.