The Chattogram Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (CWASA) has partnered with Max Foundation Bangladesh and Max Social Enterprise Ltd to explore a public-private partnership (PPP) model to improve water services in underserved urban communities.
The three organisations today signed a three-year memorandum of understanding (MoU), beginning with a needs assessment and pilot project in wards 40 and 41 of Chattogram City Corporation.
A rapid assessment conducted by Max Foundation Bangladesh and Max Social Enterprise in May found that around 164,019 residents in the two wards have limited access to safe drinking water, while CWASA's piped network reaches only 20-40 percent of households in the port city.
Most residents buy water from private vendors, with an estimated 85-115 vendors operating in the area. They pay Tk 25-50 a day for 25-30 litres of water.
The assessment also found groundwater salinity of up to 6,000 parts per million (ppm), compared with the national safe limit of 1,000 ppm.
The MoU was signed at a Chattogram hotel in the presence of Finance and Planning Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury and Janna van der Linden, deputy head of mission and head of trade and development at the Embassy of the Netherlands in Bangladesh.
CWASA Managing Director Engineer Selim Md Jane Alam, Max Foundation Bangladesh Country Director Dr ATM Tariqul Islam and Max Social Enterprise Managing Director Yameen Farook signed the agreement.
The Dutch embassy is providing financial and technical support but is not a party to the MoU.
Speaking at the ceremony, Amir Khosru said, “NGOs have the outreach, the private sector brings experience, finance and investment, while the government provides facilitation. These three forces must work together.”
He said the pilot could be expanded to other parts of Chattogram and eventually across Bangladesh if successful.
Janna van der Linden said the Netherlands had a long-standing commitment to Bangladesh, particularly in the water sector, and wanted to move towards partnerships based on sustainable economic development.
Selim Md Jane Alam said the partnership could set a benchmark for urban water management by combining public regulation with private innovation.
Yameen Farook said Max Foundation and Max Social Enterprise planned to replicate some of their water-supply models already implemented in Barishal and Khulna in Chattogram.
The initiative builds on the Building Water Business programme, implemented from 2022 to 2026 with Dutch support. Under the programme, more than 105 decentralised piped-water grids were established in Patuakhali, Barishal and Khulna.
The new initiative will explore how CWASA's public infrastructure and bulk-water capacity can be combined with private operational and commercial expertise to provide reliable and safe water services.
