AfricaPress-Tanzania: VICE-PRESIDENT (VP) Samia Suluhu Hassan has directed the Ministry of Water to oversee water projects and see into it that they are appropriately implemented and supply clean and safe water to all citizens before 2025.
Ms Samia issued the directive in Dar es Salaam on Sunday, while inspecting a 23bn/- water project in Kigamboni District of 12 water wells with seven having been completed.
Upon its completion, the project will ensure that Kigamboni residents among others in the city have reliable source of clean and safe water.
“I applaud the Ministry of Water for doing a good job to ensure Tanzanians across the country have access to clean and safe water, but go and finish the remaining 26 per cent so that all Tanzanians get water countrywide.
“Despite the good work which is being done, the ministry still has a long way to go to ensure the entire country has access to clean and safe water,” Ms Samia pointed out.
Elaborating, she underscored the vision of the government to ensure that by 2025, urban areas by 95 per cent and rural areas by 85 per cent have clean and safe water.
Equally, she praised the ministry for devising a master plan that helps in ending water woes in Dar es Salaam City, adding that it is in line with the government vision 2025.
In a related development, she extolled Dar es Salaam Water and Sewerage Authority (DAWASA) for professionally executing big water projects citing them as Kigamboni and Gongo la Mboto, which she inauguratedy.
According to her, by December this year, water challenges in Dar es Salaam will be a thing of the past.
“Taking into consideration that Dar es Salaam is a commercial city, it requires uninterruptible power supply, clean enough and safe in a good environment,” she said.
However, the Vice-President urged the Kigamboni residents to safeguard and own the infrastructures, saying those with the habit of vandalising them should stop.
In line with vandalism, she cautioned people spreading baseless lies that water supplied by Dawasa is expensive to stop, saying: “The government spends a lot of money in water provision and production chain and you find a person daring to dissuade others not to connect water from Dawasa because it is expensive.”
Emphasizing, she urged the contractors to timely complete the project and assure the work is being done to the set standards.
Earlier, the Minister for Water, Mr Jumaa Aweso in 2018 during his Dar es Salaam region tour discovered that some people in the city’s outskirts of Kigamboni, Mbagala, Pugu and Mabwepande among others were facing critical water shortage problem.
Mr Aweso noted that out of the 2450 water projects being implemented, 1423 projects have been undertaken during the fifth phase administration.
“In the rural areas, it was 47 per cent but the supply has been strengthened to 70 per cent and in urban areas the supply rose from 74 to 84 per cent,” he said.
However, he expressed his ministry’s commitment that countrywide water supply will be met by 100 per cent.
The Minister said the initiative can be witnessed from the major water projects including the 617bn/- Tabora-Igunga-Nzega (Lake Victoria), that was launched by the President John Magufuli some two weeks ago.
Other water projects already implemented include the 24bn/- Isaka-Kagonga water project, Magu (16bn/-), Lamadi (12bn/-), Misungwi (12bn/-) and the 16bn/- Longido project.
He said over 500 million US dollars has been disbursed for the execution of water projects in 28 towns and by April the contractors will be at the sites.
The Minister also revealed the plan to use local engineers in the implementation of its projects like the Kigamboni and Tabora being tendered to Advent Company.
“Of the 192 water projects whose implementation by foreign contractors could have cost 207bn/-, we only spend 163bn/- and save 144bn/-, when we use locals for the same work,” he added.
