Rokhan Municipal Model

Rokhan Municipal Model

This is a model which I have developed for the Municipal services of any city of a third world /under-developed/developing country.

I wish we could implement it in Afghanistan or Pakhtunkhwa as a tool for cultural engineering or urbanisation.

Rokhan
27th May 2011


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Rokhan Municipal Model

Goals:
To provide quality assured services for the formation, maintenance and improvement of a tidy, aesthetic and hygienic environment in the area of jurisdiction with the provision of consumable and drinking water under an automated system of revenue generation.


The Model:
The model is a cyclic model in which the output of each step is the input of the next one. The working logic of the model is that if the municipality offers its services successfully for the achievements of the goals as per centralized monitoring system then more revenue will be generated which will in turn improve the quality of the services and hence more revenue generation.


1- QA services for the achievement of goals
2- Centralized quality assured monitoring of services
3- Automated system of revenue generation


Modus Operandi:
The following steps should be taken to form, maintain and improve a tidy, aesthetic and hygienic environment:


The municipality staff should be given blue collar dress code as per international standards along with mouth cover / filter [like traffic police] to ensure health standards from pollution. Each staff member should have a code instead of name so that the same dress can be re-used if needed. The staff should have an identity card or scratch card or distinguished dress code to be distinguished from outside as well as to be identified internally in the department. The man hours/ working hours should be monitored by GPS while work should be ensured by the daily target or work load given to the staff member. This monitoring should be done centrally. Each staff member should be under the supervision of a supervisor who should be responsible for anything related to municipal issues in that area. Latest technology should be used to keep the sewerage systems working along with an emergency plan for rains, small disasters, emergencies etc.


Each house/business should be encouraged to use a paper bag [recyclable] to submit their wastes to the staff member of the municipality. Each house/business should be charged a minimum fee with receipt given to the house owner for the service and in return should be rewarded based on some draw to encourage practicing healthy waste practices. If possible the municipality should provide the waste bags to the consumers on demand by charging the price. The waste should be used using waste management technology and recycled products should be sold to the market to earn revenue.


There should be specific places for religious events like sacrifices of animals in Muslims etc. It is better that people should submit their animals to be slaughtered to specific slaughter houses and the meat should be given back to them in a finished product form. It will flourish slaughtering/meat industry and hence source of income for the govt and the private butcheries will not monopolize the market without giving quality service.


The municipality should also provide clean drinking water on demand on a nominal fee in areas where there is scarcity of water. It will give alternative to the consumers and they will not buy expensive multinational products and would rather get quality product [drinking water] in much affordable and cheaper rates. It will be wise to use distillation and filtration plants at municipal level. This will again be a source of revenue.


The municipality should also provide gardening services to anyone who seeks to implant greenery in the house inside or outside. It will encourage nursery and gardening industry at small and medium level enterprise creating a job market and source of revenue.


The municipality should also provide consultancy and minor construction services for small allowed modifications / repair / maintenance in house and other places. This again will be a great source of revenue and a job market for the unemployed skilled/ labour class who struggle to find work on daily wage basis. The services should atleast include cement work, paint work, wood work, exterior decoration, masonry etc. The services should be available on call and charge by time basis.


Demographically less concentrated areas should be converted to town and housing societies to improve the living standards as well as organize and systemize the lifestyle in the jurisdiction of the municipality. These housing societies, townships and housing scheme should be surrounded by walls so that new towns can be constructed and the expansion is in a scientific and organized manner.


The sign boards should be in English and local language to facilitate tourism as well as local population. There should be optimistic, motivational and inspirational signs with tributes to the historic events, personalities, achievements in the form of small structures, engrossed verses , pillars, towers etc to give aesthetic touch to the design and layout of the towns in the jurisdiction of the municipality.


No encroachments of any type should be allowed and not an inch of space more than the allocated space should be granted for any business or construction. There should be set and defined standards for the sign boards of businesses as well as mobile businesses [hawkers etc] which are a source of encroachments and discomfort for the citizens.


There should be a QA team to make sure that all the areas in the jurisdiction are upto the benchmarks set by the municipality. However there should be another Counter QA team which should quality assure the performance of the QA team. The very justification of the Counter QA team should be to criticize the performance of QA team and find drawbacks and limitations in their performance.


The litmus test for the proper working of this model is the continuous improvement in the external and visible living standards of the inhabitants in the jurisdiction of the municipality.