Infrastructure asset management practices and their influence on service delivery: A case study of National Water and Sewerage Corporation

Abstract

Worldwide, many utility and non-utility service providers are pushing for better management of their facilities through implementation of good asset management practices. This is hinged on the appreciation that while the basic mission for most organisations is to provide high quality but affordable services, the costs tend to rise as the infrastructure ages, and gets mismanaged, ultimately affecting customer satisfaction and yet it is contended that customer satisfaction is both a goal and a marketing tool for customer-centered companies. In tandem, NWSC in a bid to improve service delivery embarked on a customer satisfaction monitoring programme which has revealed declining levels of satisfaction in service delivery over the last couple of years. Although a number of factors could be responsible for this decline, it is most probable that the existing infrastructure asset management practices are one of the major causes. It is on this basis that a study was carried out to establish if there is a linkage between NWSC’s infrastructure asset management practices and service delivery. From the study findings, as elaborated in this report, it has indeed been established that there is a strong linkage between the current “not so good” infrastructure asset management practices in NWSC and service delivery, which is partly responsible for the declining customer satisfaction. These findings have been supported by the different literature which the researcher reviewed in the course of the study. From the study, the major challenges facing Asset Management in NWSC and the most frequent complaints by NWSC customers were investigated and identified, on the basis of which the linkage was established. In order to improve the current Infrastructure Asset Management practices and service delivery, the study has proposed some recommendations which require Management’s commitment.