Water and Sanitation Corporation (WASAC) is set to invest $300 million (Rwf259 billion) in the next three years as it seeks to address the prevailing shortfall in water supply across the country, its management said yesterday.
Funded by the African Development Bank (AFDB), WASAC said the outlay will help in the implementation of over 40 water and sanitation projects in areas of construction, rehabilitation or extending water treatment plants and water supply systems.
The programme will be implemented in the City of Kigali and satellite cities of Rubavu, Rusizi, Nyagatare, Muhanga , Huye , Musanze as well Karongi town.
Aimé Muzola, the Chief Executive Officer of WASAC, speaking at a news briefing, said that, under the proposed projects, about 1.1 million people will be provided with improved water supply services while 475,000 people will have access to improved sanitation services.
"There have been complaints of unstable water supply in some parts of Kigali, mainly in neighbourhoods of Kicukiro Distict like Kabeza and Rubirizi and Kanombe. These problems still exist though at a low level compared to the past,” Muzola said
Water filtering system at Nzove water treatment plant. / Diane Mushimiyimana
Fortunately, he said, they have long term solutions such as increasing supply capacity of pumps and installing water more storage facilities.
WASAC attributes the water shortage in Kicukiro to the rise in the population, which has put pressure on the supply capacity of previously installed supply systems.
"Now, our projects will firstly put in place water tanks to replace the existing small pipes with new big ones but also put in place water tanks to store water to intervene in case of emergency as it is in other parts of the city,” he said.
The project is expected to run for two years, starting from October 2018.
According to WASAC, Kigali alone needs 130,000m3 every day. WASAC says that the water treatment plants supplying Kigali City have the capacity to meet this demand. Kigali is supplied by three plants, Nzove water treatment plant, which provides 80,000m3 every day, Kimisagara 25,000m3, and Karenge 15, 000m3 per day.
However, the water fails to reach to its destination due to obstacles in the transporting systems.
Currently, access to clean water in urban areas stands at 85 per cent and 47 per cent in rural areas, while access to sanitisation is at 84 per cent and 72.2 per cent in urban and rural areas, respectively.
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