Private entrepreneurs in emptying and transport of FS (Bangladesh)
With only 2% of the country’s population having access to sewer systems, the rest of the population in Bangladesh is dependent on on-site sanitation systems (OSS). Khulna City is one of the cities that relies on OSS and the city’s corporation utilises mechanised emptying (vacutug) for emptying and transporting (E&T) faecal sludge from these OSS. However, the services are not sufficient and people are still availing services from manual sweepers. This research tried to find out the methods to upscale mechanised emptying services and propose a financially viable business model that private entrepreneurs can adopt. Household surveys, field observations and semi-structured interviews were used as the tools for primary data collection. The study showed that the current E&T services of the city’s corporation had immense potential to cater to the needs of households. This could be done by responding quicker to applications for E&T services, making the application process simpler and having a dedicated support system to attend to household queries. Also, incentives such as free licence to operate in the city or per m3 of sludge discharged in the treatment plant would encourage private sector participation. However, to ensure that the E&T business in Khulna City is financially viable, it is of utmost importance to have a stipulated minimum number of trips that must be undertaken per day for any capacity of vacutug.
