Over the last few months, there have been a series of pre-launch meetings between IWK of Malaysia, PD PAL Banjarmasin of Indonesia, and WaterLinks. The WOP between these two Asian utilities formally started in March 2022 with the launch of a comprehensive survey on the current operational arrangements in PD PAL Banjarmasin. The survey was intended to provide IWK with a better understanding of the sanitation landscape in Banjarmasin pending actual the face-to-face visit of the mentor to the mentee slated later this year.

Specifically, the survey is being conducted to gather the information that will help finalize the activities that will be undertaken in the next three years which will be contained in the Short-Term Action (STAPs) for each Working Area (WA).

The partners agreed on the following WAs:

1) Technical Operations;

2) Human Resources Development (HRD);

3) Governance/IEC

The survey was completed in mid-April and IWK has completed its review and assessment of the data and information gathered.

The next step is for partners to prepare the STAP identifying specific activities, targets, and timelines, as well as focal persons for each of the WAs. Another series of online meetings are being planned to be capped with an agreement on the schedule and program for the first mentor visit to conclude the diagnostic phase of this partnership.