By Cheruto Valentine
The Rwandan government on Monday, May 6th inaugurated new water treatment plants in the country’s capital, Kigali to ease access to clean water for Kigali’s residents and end the water shortages the residents have been experiencing.
With the two new water treatment plants, the total capacity of clean daily water supply to Kigali will increase to 160,500 cubic metres. The new Nzove I water treatment plant has the capacity to produce 40,000 cubic metres of water per day while the newly upgraded Nzove II was upgraded from production capacity of 25,000 cubic meters per day to 40,000 cubic meters per day.
Rwandan Prime Minister, Edouard Ngirente, who inaugurated the two new water treatment plants, said that with the two new plants, the water supply to Kigali would exceed the current daily demand which stands at about 143,668 cubic meters.
“This inauguration is another milestone in the vision of the Rwandan government to scale up clean water to all Rwandans. The water project is vital for residents of the city, who have been experiencing clean water shortages in some areas,” Ngirente said during the inauguration ceremony. “The government will continue to increase its investments in construction, extension and rehabilitation of more than 1,900 km of water supply systems in Kigali and other cities in order to achieve its goal.”
The two water treatment plants were funded by the Rwandan government at a cost of US$ 40.2 million, according to the Rwandan ministry of infrastructure. The plants are one of Rwanda’s government strategies intended to achieve universal access to clean, safe water and sanitation across the country by 2024.
During the opening of the Water Africa and East Africa Building and Construction 2018 conference held in Kigali on November last year, Patricie Uwase, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Infrastructure, said that Rwanda aims to increase daily production of clean water to 303,120 cubic meters by 2024.
“Clean, accessible water and sanitation for all Rwandan citizens is one of the government’s priorities in the next few years,” Uwase said. “Majority Rwandan citizens, most especially children, are suffering from diseases associated with inadequate water supply, sanitation and hygiene.”
World Vision believes that Rwanda is likely to be the first country in the developing world to solve its water crisis. Globally, World Vision aims to reach everyone with clean water by 2030. However, it has been working closely with the Rwandan government to achieve their 2024 goal. Between 2012 and 2017, World Vision has invested $22.6 million in Rwanda in order to reach 340,000 people.
