The Minister for Water Development, Engineer Gerson Lwenge has appealed to residents in Kagera Region to stop misusing water and use the resource carefully, taking into consideration that rains are not predictable due to climate change.
Minister Lwenge made the remarks while at the Kagera Regional Commissioner’s office soon after his arrival here for a tour to inspect the infrastructure damaged by the September 10 earthquake.
“It is evident that rains were not favourable due to climate change. We have to ensure that water resource is well spent for the benefit of future generations,” he said.
He also called upon public Institutions with huge amount of unpaid water bills to pay promptly to enable the Bukoba Water Supply and Sanitation Authority (BUWASA) function well.
According to Engineer Lwenge, the government is keen to ensure that by 2020, people living in towns and cities get safe and clean water by 95 per cent and 85 per cent for those living in rural areas. He elaborated that so far the government has injected a huge amount of funds for water development, and called on regional authorities to ensure that the funds are well spent.
“To date the government has already released over US$645.5 million for supply of water to rural areas in Kagera region. My appeal to leaders is to ensure that the funds are well managed for the benefit of the majority who are poor,” he said.
He challenged residents in the region to utilize the big potential found in the region including fertile land and valleys.
He noted that the region had potential to maximise one million hectares for irrigation purposes while to date only 461,000 hectares are utilised. Minister Lwenge visited several water projects in Bukoba municipality which were damaged by the earthquake.
He commended BUWASA for successfully implementing the much awaited Bukoba Water Project which will increase water availability to Bukoba residents.
BUWASA Executive Director, Engineer Allen Marwa, informed minister Lwenge that the daily water demand for Bukoba Municipal residents stands at 12 million liters while the Authority had the capacity of producing nine million liters daily.
