BUKOBA District Commissioner (DC) Moses Machali has said stern measures will be taken against people found to sabotage water infrastructures.
Addressing stakeholders including employees under the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency (RUWASA) on Tuesday, Mr Machali said the vandals of water and sanitation infrastructures would be dragged to court.
He appealed to customers to pay their water bills on time to ensure sustainability of the projects.
"I appeal to all Tanzanians to support President Samia Suluhu Hassan because she is doing a wonderful job to improve people's lives. The government had allocated a big budget for the water sector and each one of us should ensure that the infrastructures are well maintained," he said.
Elaborating, he said the government allocated a total of 62.5bn/- for water development in Kagera Region during 2020/2021 financial year through the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency (RUWASA), in efforts to increase water availability.
RUWASA Regional Manager, Warioba Sanya explained that until September 30th last year, about 2,659,315 of Kagera rural residents access clean water. This is equivalent to 67 per cent performance.
"Under the Water Sector Development Programme (WSDP) the government allocated 62.5bn/- during 2020/2021 financial year. At least 73 water projects were also being implemented in the region," he said.
Sanya elaborated that several Strategic Water Mega Projects (SWMP) were being implemented at cost of 128.5bn/- that will benefit about 486,750 residents mostly in urban centres.
They include Kyaka-Bunazi Water Supply project (Missenyi), Kemondo-Maruku (Bukoba DC)), Kayanga (Karagwe) and Biharamulo Urban.
"The Rwakajunju Water Supply project in Karagwe District was under procurement stage and funded by the Indian High Commission, while the Lake Victoria Water Supply project to serve Muleba Urban and Biharamulo Urban was under feasibility study," he said.
He further said about 143 Community Based Water Users' Organisations (CBWSOs) were by June 30th, last year already established and collected 609,352,633/- to ensure sustainability of the water schemes.
Mr Sanya clarified that water availability for Bukoba Municipal residents had to-date reached 90 per cent served by the Bukoba Urban Water Sanitation Agency (BUWASA).
Bukoba Municipal's water needs stood at 13million litres per day while BUWASA production capacity stood at 18 million litres per day, he said.