TIRANA, 24 JUNE 2015 - Today, at the premises of the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure (MTI), a joint ceremony was held to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between USAID, MTI, and the Albanian Water Supply and Sewerage Association (SHUKALB) expressing their joint efforts to establish a Test-Based Certification Program (hereafter referenced as “Certification Program”) for operational managers in the water supply and wastewater sector of Albania.  The MOU was signed by Minister of Transport and Infrastructure, Mr. Edmond Haxhinasto, USAID’s Director of Programs, Ms. Clare Masson, and the Executive Director of SHUKALB, Mr. Philip Giantris.

The Certification Program will be institutionalized within the Government of Albania and will require all water supply and sewerage utilities to be staffed with certified operational managers. USAID and SHUKALB will provide training to prepare candidates for the certification tests.

The project is one of the components of the “Sustainable Water Sector Capacity Development in Albania” project, funded by USAID and implemented by SHUKALB.

“This Memorandum of Understanding is of a particular importance as a very crucial step under the recent profound reform implemented in the water and wastewater sector of Albania. The goal is to move towards a better performance, with the final objective for more reliable services covering a larger geographical area, thus being closer to the citizens for this vital service, water supply and wastewater treatment,” declared Minister Haxhinasto in his speech.

Continuing, Mr. Haxhinasto said that it is very important that the implementation of this project goes in parallel with the initiatives identified and taken by the Government, first, to reform the sector based on the division of the territorial reform and secondly to reorganise the water supply and sewerage utilities based on their performance indicators.

“Test-based certifications are crucial for the sustainable and professional management of water and wastewater systems,” said Ms. Masson in her remarks at the ceremony. “USAID is pleased to support the Government of Albania’s efforts to modernize Albania’s water sector.”

SHUKALB’s Executive Director, Mr. Giantris, added “Building the capacity of our members and other stakeholders in the water sector is one of our basic missions.  We can now see, with great certainty, that Albania will have a full documented, professionally developed training program that will be second to none in the Balkans and beyond.”

Also present were the Directors of Water Supply and Wastewater Utilities, representatives of SHUKALB’s Board of Directors, and members of the Project Advisory Council representing the main stakeholders in the water sector such as the General Directorate of Water Supply and Sewerage, the Water Regulatory Authority, the Ministry of Social Welfare and Youth, the Faculty of Civil Engineering, among others.  The first skills training courses are expected to be delivered in early 2016.