Dar water plans short of funds - Maghembe

Water minister Prof Jummane Maghembe says the ministry will not have enough funds to finance water projects in Dar es Salaam Region despite the fact that Parliament beefed up the budget in July.

The ministry’s proposed budget for the 2013/14 financial year was 398bn/- but the august House sitting in Dodoma in July decided that at least 185bn/- be added to it. However only 100bn/- was finally raised in extra budget leaving a gap of 85bn/-.

According to the minister, it is very costly to pump sufficient water to the city currently hosting 4.3 million people.

Speaking at a two-day National Dissemination Workshop on Nile Equatorial Lakes Subsidiary Action Programme (NELSAP) Projects Outputs in Dar es Salaam yesterday, the Water minister said most projects cost huge sums of money.

“It is very costly to pump enough water to supply all Dar es Salaam residents. However, we are doing our best to ensure that we supply sufficient water to the city. So far we have managed to put up the machines for treating the water at Lower Ruvu and we will do the same at Upper Ruvu,” he said.

According to Prof Maghembe the ministry and agencies have laid a water pipe covering a distance of 30kms and that the remaining stretch is 25kms.
He said the ministry still needs a lot of money to complete the project.

He added that his ministry will allocate more money in the next financial year to supply more water to the country’s leading commercial city from Kimbiji and Mpera in Coast Region.

He called on NELSAP workshop participants to think of setting up small water projects which will involve supply of water in rural areas instead of only thinking about big water projects for the cities and towns.

He said water is also essential for the rural dwellers especially in their farming activities.

“I wish the farmers would have also taken part in this workshop to share with other participants’ ideas on the efficient utilisation of water in their agricultural activities … but it is my hope that you will talk to people in your areas and make them aware of water consumption and about climate change,” he said.

He said there is a need to improve water assessment since the available amount does not tally with the demand especially with the growing population.

Currently, he said, the delivery of water to people both in urban and rural areas is between 63 percent and 73 percent, but the expectation is to reach 74 percent by 2015.
He said the government target is to ensure efficient utilisation of water in all sectors.

For her part NELSAP-CU communication officer Louise-Andree Ndayizeye said apart from other objectives, the workshop will discuss the status of NELSAP financial sustainability strategy and forward plans.

She said participants will discuss how to create awareness at a regional level and plan using tools that have been developed by NELSAP.

Special focus will be on the Multi-Sector Investment Opportunities Analysis (MSIOA) as well as promoting and strengthening stakeholder involvement and regional cooperation within the sub basins, she said.

In another development, the Water minister said some progress has been made in the implementation of the NELSAP programme in Tanzania.

It includes the preparation of Kenya-Tanzania interconnector and the Iringa –Mbeya power transmission line that have already been completed.

He added that the River Basin Management Projects for Mara and Kagera rivers have made gains in the development of institutional framework that will enhance trans-boundary cooperation.

Feasibility and detailed design studies for regional water infrastructure programmes have been completed and it is expected that “bankable” investment profiles of medium to large scale water infrastructure investment projects will be implemented in the foreseeable future.

Prof Maghembe stated that investments in watershed and wetland management will improve farming practices hence reduce environmental degradation, enhance soil quality and water retention.

Consequently, he said, they would improve ecological integrity of the basin and increase productivity.

“Other initiatives include the Tanzania irrigation and watershed management project, whose preparation has been completed for a command area of 20,000 hectares of irrigation,” he said.

Countries under the NELSAP are Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, DR Congo, South Sudan, Sudan and Egypt.