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Among the countries that have transformed public services we can cite Colombia
and an example of it, is Triple A of Barranquilla, a company devoted to the
provision of water, sewerage and garbage collection services that has today
three quality certifications under the ISO 9001:2000 standard.
The scopes of these certifications include processes such as:
In Water Supply:
Intake, treatment, distribution, billing, revenue collecting and customer service in
potable water supply in the city of Barranquilla.
In Sewerage:
Collection, transportation, disposal, billing, revenue collecting and customer
service in sewerage service in the city of Barranquilla.
In Waste Water Treatment:
Treatment process for waste water at “El Pueblo” treatment plant.
In Works:
Projects, contracting and auditing of water and sewerage works.
In Garbage Collection:
Management of waste collection service, road and public areas cleaning,
transportation and final disposal of urban solid waste from the Barranquilla
District, billing, revenue collecting and customer service in garbage collection
service.
Certification achievements under ISO 9000 standard are linked to other financial,
commercial and operating achievements thanks to management activities that
changed the company from a non viable company to a modern organization with
massive social benefits. Besides, the company can be considered as a model of
experience in the participation of private equity in potable water and basic
sanitation modernization process, not only for Colombia but for Latin America.
Lets see some figures to illustrate the above mentioned transformation process:
In 1996 water supply coverage was no more than 78%, accrued losses were of
US$17.9 million and net profit margin was –34%.
It was then necessary to think about a definite solution, for that reason since
October 1996, with the participation of the qualified partner INASSA S.A., Triple
A has developed in the city of Barranquilla important undertakings towards
excellence in public services provided, through the execution of infrastructure
investment programs, technology contribution and development of improvement
plans, within a Quality Management System that made possible to provide the
community with an excellent service.
It is important to underscore that the water service coverage in Barranquilla went
from 66% in 1993 to 94% in the year 2000; sewerage coverage went from 54%
to 80% and garbage collection coverage went from 67% to 100% in the same
period.