Ina Porras

Waiting at the Tap: Changes in Urban Water Use in East Africa Over Three Decades

This paper reports on changes in water supplies in 16 sites in nine East African urban centres (including Nairobi and Dar es Salaam) between 1967 and 1997. The sites included both low-income and affluent neighbourhoods. In most sites, water supplies had deteriorated. For sites that already had piped water in 1967, most received less water per day in 1997 and had more unreliable supplies. For households without piped supplies, the average time spent collecting water in 1997 was more than three times that in 1967. One of the most notable changes when comparing 1997 to 1967 was the much greater importance of private water vending through kiosks or vendors; these had become a booming business in many of the low- and middle-income sites. But on average, those using kiosks were spending almost 2 hours a day collecting water and the water from kiosks was nearly twice the price of piped supplies.

Drawers of Water II: assessing change in domestic water use in East Africa

Despite abundant research on the relationship between water supply projects and health, relatively little is known about long-term trends in household water use. This article compares information from the original Drawers of Water study, which took place in East Africa in the late 1960s, and the Drawers of Water II study in the same region in 1997, and points to improvements as well as deterioration.

The Environmental Consequences of Tax Differentiation by Vehicle Age in Costa Rica

This paper provides an overview of the potential environmental benefits in Costa Rica of increasing the relative tax rate on imported used cars. Analysis of this policy instrument has been chosen because Costa Rican fiscal policy has traditionally favoured the import of used cars. Moreover, a tax which differentiates between new and used cars can be a good proxy for taxes based directly upon emission levels. The results of the simulation reveal considerable environmental benefits in terms of nitrogen oxides, hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide emissions.