TODAY President Samia Suluhu Hassan is marking four years since she was sworn in to the position in 2021 following the death of her predecessor, the late Dr John Magufuli.
Soon after taking the oath of office as the country was still covered with a heavy blanket of grief following the death of Dr Magufuli, she offered an uplifting and healing message which rightly restored hopes in the midst of despair.
She assured to continue with development projects and programmes initiated during the administration of the fifth phase government under the late Dr Magufuli as well as coming up with new ones for national development.
One of the areas that President Samia vowed to throw her weight behind is the implementation of water projects, purposely to ‘lift the water buckets off mothers’ heads’.
She made the promise cognisant of the fact that women were facing serious troubles were searching for water.
Statistics availed this month shows that the accessibility of precious liquid in rural areas stands at 83 per cent, while in urban areas it has reached 90 per cent.
The ruling party CCM’s Election Manifesto 2020- 2025 requires the government to reach 95 per cent of water supply in urban and 85 in rural areas.
Addressing the public last week at the 39th ALAT‘s AGM President Samia assured Tanzanians that by October this year all remaining projects will have been completed.
Despite the significant progress made in the water sector over the past four years, including the increased availability of water in urban and rural areas, the commencement of the Kidunda Dam project will remain as a landmark of President Samia’s legacy in the history of Tanzania.
The execution of the long awaited project that costs 335.8 bn/- was the vision of the late Father of the Nation Mwalimu Julius Nyerere which is now realised under the leadership of President Samia to ensure reliable water supply.
Showing how the President is determined to implement the project, Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa recently laid the foundation stone for the project, emphasising the importance of environmental conservation and water resource management to enhance water availability in the country.
The dam, located in Morogoro Region, will have a storage capacity of 190 billion litres of water and is currently 28 per cent complete.
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The dam is designed to stabilise the water supply in four regions including Morogoro, Dar es Salaam and Coast and Tanga region,as well as mitigating floods, and enhancing fishing and agriculture, among other benefits.
During the event, the Premier directed water authorities to ensure that villages near water sources benefit from water supply services, motivating them to protect the resources.
He also urged residents around the water sources feeding into the Kidunda Dam to take responsibility for safeguarding them, ensuring the dam’s sustainability.
“This project will only be sustainable if the water sources feeding into the Kidunda Dam are protected,” he stressed.
Ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Eng Mwajuma Waziri, provided further insights into the project, stating that once completed, it will improve the supply of clean water for domestic use, agriculture and industries.
“This project will ensure a continuous water supply from the Ruvu River, providing an average of 24,000 litres per second, which will meet water demands, especially during drought periods,” she noted.
She added that several activities are currently underway, including the construction of a 75 km gravel road from Ngerengere to Kidunda and a 101 km transmission line from Kidunda to Chalinze, linking the dam to the national grid.
Regarding the sustainability of the project, she emphasised that the government, through the Wami/ Ruvu Basin Water Board, is implementing conservation and management efforts for the water sources feeding the dam.
These efforts include issuing land use certificates and marking permanent boundaries in the Mvuha, Mgeta, Ruvu and Ngerengere River catchments.
