Community Management Method (CMM) in Village Water Supply (VWS) Program
Authors: Djatmiko Rochmat 
Published: May 2016

This reference is for an abstract only. A full paper was not submitted for this conference.

The Goal of Community Management

Socio Economic Development (SED) team of TOTAL E&P INDONESIE applies Community Management Method (CMM) for implementing sustainable village water supply projects. The SED team believes that by applying CMM could promote the following three outputs at the end of its projects: Sustainability:to have last longser and improve community maintenance of constructed systems.Self-reliance:to increase the awareness and capability of communities to solve their own health problems (related to waterborne diseases).Access:to enable communities to access their own resources for operating and maintaining VWS facilities, due to limitation resources from outside sources (Government and or donors).

Community Management Method (CMM)

CMM is strategy applied by TOTAL E&P INDONESIE in its projects to promote a sustainable village water supply facilities constructed by community. The SED team considers CMM as an interactive facilititation process which involves representation members of the community in every aspect of water project: community organization, community decision-making, surveying, designing, planning, budgeting, financing, implementing, constructing, water user-free collections, and operation and maintenance activities.

Characteristics of Community Management Method

The SED considers the following aspects, which mark the implementation of CMM in a VWS project. Community Development Motivators (CDM) acts as FACILITATORS, not as implementers. A facilitator encourages, motivates, and provides relevant training and technical assistance which communities require for good decision-making.Communities are empowered to make decisions, which affect the design, implementation and long-term sustainability of their VWS systems. CDM provides technical and managerial information, which enables COMMUNITY DECISION-MAKING.COMMITTEES are established in communities to facilitate capacity building and community management process.Communities are expected to provide CASH, community contribution, whose purpose is to enhance community sense of ownership and thereby enhance community responsibility for the long-term sustainability of VWS systems.Communities are expected to provide for recurrent of operation and maintenance (O&M) COST through user-fee collections.2 IPTC 12815Emphasis is on SOCIAL PROCESS not technical product.Emphasis is shifted from supply to a demand-managed program design, community demand is, inter alia, by the community_s willingness to form active decision-making committees and to engage in RESOURCE MOBILIZATION (i.e. to pay the community contribution).

How to Implement Community Management Method

The SED team classified activities in implementing CMM into 4 (four) stages. The flow and summary of activities in each stage are explained below. PREPARATION STAGE _ meeting with community leaders to introduce the project and its CMM strategy. Conduct technical surveys and analysis the data with community. Conduct a community meeting to inform the project cost and roles and responsibility of each party (Community, Local Authorities and Donors). Establishment of community based organization (Committee) as leader in project implementation. Training for committee members as necessary.PLANNING STAGE _ Activity are focused on project management and organization planning. Committee with project staff facilitates hygiene and sanitation messages development. Based on the design, Committee will develop resources mobilization and VWS facilities construction plans.IMPLEMENTATION STAGE _ In this stage, Committee will implement activities planned in Planning Stage. These include mobilization of cash from community members and local materials such as sand and stones, if available locally, and procurement, delivery and inventory control of material. Once materials and labor have been mobilized, construction begins. In this stage technical training is also conducted as required.SUSTAINABILITY STAGE _ As the end of the construction project stage, community will establish an operation and maintenance committee. The Committee will turns develop the rules and regulations and request approval from community in the community meeting. Committee will also determine the user fee. Committee will also develop a water resource protection.

Support Required to Implement CMM in VWS Projects

Staff training and support CDM themselves require adequate preparation in adult education and community development principles that are basic to the success of the CMM. Technology Options, technology options for VWS system must be affordable, meet quality standards, yet fall within the technical capabilities of communities (to operate and maintain as well as to self-finance if the systems need repair). Time, special preparation and project implementation take more time under the CMM, as compare with one-year project cycle of the regular project of Community Participation Method (CPM). Commitment to gender in development, women must be included in decision-making roles on village committees. Women have a primary interest in sustaining VWS project because they benefit directly from the timesaving convenience and improved health of children resulting from VWS Development systems. Teamwork, CMM is best implemented in a team work Method. Two or three staff should work collaboratively facilitating the project implementation, although each staff has his / her responsible project sites.

Note:

Based on experiences during the implementation of Muara Jawa Ilir (one of village project location) water supply project, CDM (Staff) identified the following advantages:Improve community self-reliance.Involves community in decision-making.Increase capability of community organization as decision-making bodies.Enables community to participate in the management of VWS project.Enables community members to be project implementers (rather than passive recipients).Gives community a strong ownership of VWS project.Enables communities to identify and mobilize local resources (cash and labor).Improves community ability to liaise with outside agencies.

The Muara Jawa Village water supply system project was implemented in 2003, served 300 families, employed 5 people, and up to now (2008) the system is still wellfunctioning and maintained.