More than 400,000 residents in Runyinya, Nyaruguru and Huye districts are schedule d to have clean water by the year 2012.

This follows the launch of a project called PEPAPS (the French acronym for Program for drinkable water and sanitation in Southern Province), a joint project of the Ministry of Infrastructure and the Belgian Technical Cooperation (BTC) that concerns 500 km of water-pipes, either new ones or the rehabilitation of old ones.

Energy minister Albert Butare said that the ongoing re-piping project would be implemented all over the country so as to provide clean water to some of the water-scarce regions. "Though it's costly, we will ensure there is progress towards the installation of new pipes."

Butare pointed out that the project would improve sustainable access to portable water and improved hygienic conditions.

He explained that the building of water taps at a distance of 500 m from homesteads, would reduce the burden of fetching water which causes residents to travel for long distances in search of water.

"Children will not miss classes since they won't be using most of their time fetching water," he said.

According to the project's technical director Dervaux Yves, of BTC, the project would not only build tap water but also enhance sanitationthrough the construction of 1000 ecological sanitation latrines (ECOSAN) in 79 selected schools in the three districts.

He added that the latrines are built in a special way that separates feces with urine, and the product is harvested after six months to dry out for days and then later used in plants. "The human fertilizer will be used for school farming and communities around the schools," he remarked.

The water and sanitation project which is a contribution to the national water and sanitation policy which ensures clean water to all Rwandans by the year 2020, started in 2007 and is valued at FRW 20 billion.

People in the region however called on the districts to remove the fee which residents have to pay per container whenever they fetch water from the new taps. "What's the use of the water if we have to dig deeper in our pockets again," one resident commented.

According to Dominiek Dolphen the BTC regional representative, the money earned from water will be used for maintenance of the taps and pipes. Moreover, he argued that charging a fee will make people use water responsibly.

Normally residents pay 10 francs for a 20-liter container, which some vulnerable people are not able to afford. Therefore Dolphen called for a harmonized way to charge for the water.