Africa-Press – Tanzania. PRIME Minister Kassim Majaliwa has said the sixth phase government is determined to end the problem of access to clean and safe water in several villages in the country, including Ruangwa District of Lindi region.
He said access to clean and safe water is one of the government’s priorities so it will continue to carry out various water projects so that all parts of the country have access to clean and safe water.
Mr Majaliwa made the remarks yesterday while speaking to residents of Ruangwa District in separate public meetings held in the villages of Mpara, Mtimbo, Mmawa, Chikoko, Chinokole and Kilimahewa in Ruangwa District.
The Prime Minister said among the efforts was establishment of a campaign dubbed ‘Kumtua Mama Ndoo Kichwani,’ which saw mega water projects flourishing to ensure all villages in the country have access to the service near their residential areas.
On water woes facing Ruangwa District, he said the government is implementing construction of the Mbwinji water project which supplies water from Ndanda to Ruangwa.
“We expect this major project to reduce the problem of water supply in Ruangwa District,” he said.
The Premier said apart from clean and safe water service, the government is also determined to supply electricity to all villages that are not yet connected in the country, so he urged Tanzanians to be prepared. He said people will no longer be responsible for paying for the cost of poles or application forms for electricity connection because all those costs have already been borne by the government.
The government targets to increase water supply in urban areas to 95 per cent and rural areas by 85 per cent come 2025. With this target, Mr Majaliwa issued several directives to the ministry, contractors and water engineers who carry out water projects countrywide.
According to the CCM election Manifesto 2020/2025, the ruling party pledged to increase the number of people accessing clean and safe water in rural areas from 47 per cent in 2015 to 70.1 per cent in 2020.
The document further read that in urban areas, the number of people accessing clean and safe water has increased from 74 per cent in 2015 to 85 per cent in 2020. Overall, the number of households accessing clean water in the country from safe sources has increased to 77 per cent by 2020.
The manifesto pledges to speed up the supply of clean and safe water to meet the needs of over 85 per cent in rural areas and over 95 per cent in urban areas in mainland Tanzania by 2025, and over 95 per cent in Zanzibar.
As of May 2021, Tanzania has implemented several projects, including 171 water projects, out of which 67 have been completed at a total cost of 756.2bn/-.
