Performance assessment of commercial principles in water services provision

As a water scarce country, Jordan started initiatives to reform its water sector to meet the objective of bridging the gap between increasing demands and diminishing renewable water supply, besides implementing technical solutions. Commercialization, as alternative to privatization in its conventional notion, was adopted as a strategy to extend partnership with the private sector and to establish new corporatized water service companies wholly owned by the Government and operated under commercial principles. This paper assesses the utilization of commercial and market principles in managing water services provision, it assesses Amman water utility performances under the management of Jordan water Company (Miyahuna) Corporate and the Management Contractor (LEMA). The assessment covered the period from 1999 through 2013, with 1999 as a base year. It was based on the International Water Association recommended performance indicators and on the customized ones, as used by the Ministry of Water and Irrigation. Financial sustainability Criteria variations and its trends has been analysed, discussed and historically tracked for possible indications and causes. Miyahuna performance was compared to international and regional performance standards using data available on the International Benchmarking Network for Water and Sanitation Utilities database. This inter-utility comparison may trigger enhancement as the water sector direct completion is limited. The paper concludes that application of the corporatize model for the Amman utility was successful. Miyahuna performance in the long term reveals positive trends in most of the evaluated criteria.