THE government of India has promised to strengthen cooperation with the government of Tanzania and promised to inject 1tri/- in improving the water sector.
That was said over the weekend by the India Foreign Affairs Minister Dr Subrahmanyan Jaishankar, during his visit to inspect the progress of the Kibamba water tank, built by the government in collaboration with the government of India.
He said the government of India is well prepared to cooperate with the government of Tanzania to ensure that water service is improved because water is a basic need for every human being.
"We have decided to come specifically to this project with the aim of witnessing ourselves the progress of its implementation since it was built eight years ago, we are happy to see the good progress of this project, which has been a great help to the residents of these areas," he said.
In addition, the Indian Minister praised Tanzanian government for the great efforts made in clean water accessibility, saying currently a huge part of the population access the service.
"The government of India recognises the importance of water services as it is a basic and guaranteed need for all people and for this progress that Tanzania has achieved we congratulate them very much," he said.
Speaking about the cooperation, Tanzanian Minister for Water, Jumaa Aweso, congratulated the government of India for the efforts they have been making to improve water service in the country.
"Through the government of India, this Kibamba - Kisarawe project was implemented mainly on the construction of this tank with a capacity of six million litres and we are truly grateful because it has been very helpful to our people," he said.
He said through the Indian government, urban and rural water services have improved significantly.
"Currently, access to clean water in urban areas has reached 88 per cent and in rural areas has reached 77 per cent, and the work is ongoing to strengthen services to achieve government's goals," he said.
The Acting Chief Executive Officer of DAWASA, Mr Kiula Kingu, congratulated the Indian government for the big investment they are making in the country on water projects which have helped to increase access to sanitation services for Tanzanians.
He said that the Kibamba-Kisarawe water project has been fully implemented at a cost of 10.6bn/- and serves 450,000 residents of Kibamba and Kisarawe District in the Coast Region.