THE Dodoma Urban Water and Sanitation Authority (DUWASA) is implementing key water projects which seek to hike water service coverage in the country’s capital from the current 91percent to at least 93percent in 2024.
DUWASA Managing Director, Engineer Aron Joseph said in Dodoma on Saturday that among the major projects that will see water woes becoming a history in the Dodoma city, including the construction of a 32-metre high Farkwa Dam in Chemba District and a major Lake Victoria project which seeks to tap water from the lake to Dodoma through Singida Region.
He was speaking at a media conference to explain the implementation of the responsibilities of his organisation as well as outlining key priorities for DUWASA in the 2023/24 financial year.
According to him, Dodoma’s population was growing at a supersonic speed, with the current statistics from the National Bureau of Statistics showing that the population in Dodoma Urban alone was 765,000. He said that 500,000 people were receiving water services from DUWASA. The number, he said, was drawn from 30 out of 41 wards of the district.
Regarding the Farkwa dam project, Eng Joseph explained that already the government had received a concessional loan totaling 125.2 million US dollars (over 300bn/-) from the African Development Bank (AfDB) and that initial works for the implementation of the project were ongoing.
“This project which will be implemented for a period of between five and six years is expected to improve water supply in Dodoma City, Bahi, Chemba and Chamwino districts, ” he said.
The DUWASA Managing Director said that already, the government had paid about 7.8bn/- in compensation to area residents who are to vacate their areas to pave the way for the project, adding that the government had equally put all appropriate social services including schools and hospitals in the alternative place that was allocated for them.
The Farkwa Dam will be built across a valley downstream of the confluence of the rivers Bubu and Mkinki in Chemba District, about 130 kilometres north of Dodoma. It is located within a semi-arid region, which experiences only seasonal rivers with mean annual rainfall ranging from 500-900 mm.
