Tanzania:Envisaged agency to help end water woes in rural villages

KATARE MBASHIRU

Improved water supply in village.(Photo by World Bank)

PLANS to establish the Rural Water Agency (RUWA) to fast track execution of water projects and boost supply in the country’s rural areas are in the final stages.

Deputy Minister for Water and Irrigation, Jumaa Aweso, said in Dar es Salaam yesterday that the government anticipates that the new authority will revolutionalise the water sector the same way the Tanzania Rural Roads Agency (TARURA) is currently connecting the country with better roads.

“The process to establish the agency is at a good stage and we are now working in collaboration with the local government and regional administration to finalise our plans,” said the minister.

Mr Aweso was speaking during his working tour of the water institute to familiarise with its operations and address various challenges facing the institution. Responding to questions from students who sought to know if there were plans to establish RUWA, the deputy minister admitted that the agency was in the offing, expressing optimism that the outfit was best placed to solve water woes in the rural areas. Mr Aweso moved around the institute before addressing employees and later students.

He, however, was not happy with the current infrastructure, saying the government will do all it can to ensure that the buildings are improved.

Addressing staff, the deputy minister said the ministry will work on the welfare of employees at the institute to motivate them in their discharge of duties. Some employees told Mr Aweso that despite an approval from the Treasury Registrar on their new salary scales, they were yet to receive their stipends, pleading for the minister’s intervention.

Responding, the ministry’s Assistant Director of Human Resources Management, Ms Visensia Kagombora, said because of an earlier directive from the Permanent Secretary (PS) in the President’s Office, Public Service and Good Governance, that all promotions and other benefits be halted pending verification of phantom workers and fake certificate holders, the ministry had stopped all the promotions.

“Beginning November, this year, we have received another directive that we can now proceed with promotions, therefore, I urge you to remain patient as everything will soon be taken care of,’’ she said.

The water institute Rector, Dr Shija Kazumba, said the institute will next January have the first batch of students graduating with bachelor’s degree in Water Resources and Irrigation, saying currently the learning institution has 2,101 students and 90 permanent staff.