BY DEVOTA MWACHANG`A
21st March 2013
Should the ministry follow through with the President’s visionary call, then instead of relying on the single pipeline that currently supplies water to both Dar and nearby districts including Bagamoyo, the city will enjoy increased supplies from the second pipeline.
“The idea is to have two water systems via two pipelines, one directly pumping water from Ruvu to Kimara in Dar es Salaam into the fixed water tanks and the other supplying residents along the infrastructure of the pipeline,” the President explained.
He was speaking at the inauguration of the Golani Bridge in Kimara, Kinondoni District during his second leg visit to Dar es Salaam Region.
President Kikwete pointed out that the city’s water shortage was due to not only the low supply capacity in comparison to the growing demand, but also largely because a big volume is drawn by residents of Mlandizi and Kibaha for irrigation.
As such he called for interdepartmental cooperation among the Ministry of Water and the Dar es Salaam Water and Sewerage Authority (Dawasa) and Dar es Salaam Water and Sewerage Corporation(Dawasco) to curb the problem.
To the Dar es Salaam Regional Commissioner, the city’s lawmakers and the District Commissioners, he instructed them all to meet him in State House to discuss long term lasting solutions to the water blues plaguing the country’s leading business capital and nation at large.
The government is currently working to expand the Upper Ruvu and Lower Ruvu in order to increase the water volume pumped to Dar es Salaam in order to meet the demand, which the President highlighted as 450 million cubic meters daily.
The Dar es Salaam Regional Commissioner, Said Meck Sadick seconding the President saied the expansion of Lower Ruvu infrastructure will increase the water volume supplied to the city, asserting that the project will be up and running by early January of next year. “We expect that by the end of this year, the laying of pipelines will be completed and will result in increased volume of water flow to Dar es Salaam…,” asserted the RC.
During the President’s two-day visit he pledged to disburse to every household flood victim shifted to Mabwepande some 100 bags of cement to construct new houses. He also called on stakeholders to support the victims.
The President also handed over 20 title deeds to some of the flood victims and called for expedited process on the authorities responsible to resettle the victims.
The current water supply capacity for Kinondoni District is 130 million cubic meters but only 67 percent of the residents have access to it for various reasons, including leakages and theft.
Dar es Salaam demand for water is 450 million litres per day but the available supply is 350 million litres leaving a deficit of 100 million litres.
It is however to be noted that, theft and leakages are responsible for approximately 30 per cent of water loses, according to the Regional Commissioner, Said Mecky Sadik.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN
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