PRESIDENT Samia Suluhu Hassan has announced that by the end of 2025, every village will have access to piped water, an initiative that aims to alleviate the longstanding burden on women and girls who often carry water over long distances.

Laying the foundation stone for a water project benefiting three villages in Madaba District, Ruvuma Region, she said that the project, billed at 5.5bn/- is part of a broader strategy to provide clean and safe water across the country.

She referred to her campaign to take off the bucket on a woman’s head, she was happy about the project as it seeks to reduce the time and effort women spend fetching water, by increasing investment in domestic water supply, making access to clean water more convenient.

She talked of the bucket removal campaign as part of the 2020 electoral campaign, noting that the promise is now being fulfilled by expanding water access nationwide.

She tasked the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency (RUWASA) to complete the Mtyangimbole water project in three months, urging the residents to protect water sources, as vital to human and livestock drinking needs.

Everyone should be responsible to safeguard the Mtichi River water sources in Matogoro B Mountains, she said, underlining that protecting this resource is not solely the job of water authorities, as it requires community commitment.

While in Ruvuma Region, she inspected, laying the foundation stone for 30 ongoing water projects, where officials said that the Mtyangimbole project, thanks to its abundant water supply, is expected to be extended to a fourth village.

Mwajuma Waziri, the Water permanent secretary, reported that the Mtyangimbole project was already 50 percent complete, featuring an intake structure generating 1.6m liters of water per day.

“Later, we will install pipes extending 20.9 meters to two tanks on the spot,” she said, noting that one tank with a capacity for 150,000 liters is already complete, serving 16 water collection points.

 The second tank, holding 200,000 litres, will serve Luhimba and Likarangiro villages, with the overall network covering 52.7 kilometers and around 40 collection points, she specified.

Water demand in these villages stands at 634,000 litres but the system will produce 1.9m litres thus ensuring that it will be sufficient for a while to come.

 “The foundation stone for this project symbolizes all 30 water initiatives underway in Ruvuma. Once completed, these projects will provide access to clean water for 14,000 residents, up to now relying on old wells,” she stated.

Water minister Juma Aweso remarked on the progress made in the water sector, often a source of complaints due to shortages, as 10,000 have been covered and upwards of 2,000 villages are left.

“We have secured over 53bn/- for the projects. In the first phase, we will drill 900 wells to ensure all villages have water access. Our goal is to provide abundant water throughout the country,” he declared.

President Samia similarly laid the foundation stone for 28-grain storage warehouses at the Luhimba storage facility. The National Food Reserve Agency (NFRA) has already begun using five of the warehouses, as it finishes refurbishing others.

 Plans are also in place for larger warehouses, each with a capacity of 5,000 tonnes, to be built in Katavi, Rukwa, Ruvuma, Songwe and Tabora major grain producing regions, he added.