Rwanda’s Prime Minister Anastase Murekezi has assured that universal access to water in Rwanda will be a reality by the end of 2017 adding that the government will make huge investments in water processing and supply in the next few months so as to achieve this target.
The Prime Minister was speaking in Parliament when he presented the government’s work in the water and sanitation sector.
The government, he said, intends to increase households’ access to clean water all over the country from 74.2 per cent in 2010 to 100 per cent in 2017.
According to the fourth Integrated Household Living Conditions Survey (EICV4) that was published in September 2015, 84.8 per cent of Rwandans are able to access potable water and the Prime Minister said that the remaining steps towards achieving universal access will be achieved by the end of next year.
“The 100 per cent target by 2017 hasn’t changed. We have to move faster to achieve it,” he said.
He said in order to achieve the target, heavy investments will be made in building of water processing plants in several areas around the country while new water supply systems will be constructed and old ones rehabilitated.
He added that the government is working on several projects to provide water to rural areas particularly in districts that have notable water shortage.
Some of the big projects that the government plans to embark on before the end of financial year 2016-2017 include the increasing the capacity of Nzove II water processing plant in Kigali to make it supply 40,000 cubic metres daily instead of the current 25,000 cubic metres.
In regional cities of Nyagatare, Nyanza and Kayonza the government intends to build three water processing plants with each plant supplying 10,000 cubic metres daily.
The government also intends to offer training to private water supply companies around the country to help in fast-tracking reliable access to clean water in the rural areas. There are 39 licensed companies specializing in water processing and provision.
But Members of Parliament told the Prime Minister that the main challenge in the whole country at the moment is water accessibility where private companies that are licensed to manage water fountains charge exorbitant prices.
Universal access to water in Rwanda is one of the top priority of the country. It comes in the back of a water summit in Tanzania recently where leaders pledges to make water available to all citizens.
