Tanzania, Korea sign 9bn/- deal to boost water services in Dodoma

DODOMA: The Government of the Republic of Korea has provided a 9bn/- grant to support a project aimed at improving water services and reducing water losses in Bahi District and Dodoma City.

Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Tanzania, Ms Eun Ju Ahn, and Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Water, Engineer Mwajuma Waziri, signed an agreement for a water pipeline project aimed at improving water distribution and reducing water losses in Bahi District.

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Water, Ms Mwajuma Waziri, launched the project in Bahi yesterday, saying the initiative is expected to benefit about 437,200 people, including residents of Dodoma City, Bahi Sokoni, Ibihwa and Mpalanga villages in Bahi District.

The initiative will establish and improve infrastructure for reducing water losses, serving as a model to ensure that every drop of water produced reaches the intended consumer.

Speaking during the launch, Engineer Waziri said the funds were provided as a grant under cooperation between Tanzania and the Republic of Korea through the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), with the aim of supporting the country in achieving its development goals, particularly in the water sector.

She said one of the Government’s priorities in the water sector was to improve the efficiency of water services and reduce water losses, which currently stand at 33.7 per cent, resulting in significant financial losses.

“I would like to emphasise that the Government wants every project implemented using public funds or in collaboration with development partners to adhere to the principles of transparency, accountability, quality, integrity and value for money. Here, our goal is to reduce water losses, and we must achieve it,” she said.

Ms Waziri called on residents of Bahi Sokoni, Ibihwa and Mpalanga villages to cooperate with the Government and institutions involved in implementing the project.

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For her part, the Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Tanzania, Ms Eun Ju Ahn, said the project would help address water losses and enable residents to benefit from improved services while reducing operational costs through more accurate monitoring and accounting of water sales.

She said the project would involve the installation, testing and commissioning of a wireless SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) system, which would enable a single operator to monitor water distribution and identify non-functioning boreholes remotely, reducing the need for a large number of personnel.

Ms Ahn added that the project would strengthen the capacity to measure and monitor the water network, detect and reduce water losses, improve infrastructure efficiency and enhance the monitoring of boreholes.

She said the project would also build the technical capacity of local experts, with the knowledge gained expected to be applied in other areas of the country.

The Director of the Dodoma Urban Water Supply and Sanitation Authority (DUWASA), Engineer Aron Joseph, said the project began in 2023 and is scheduled for completion in 2028.

He said it would benefit approximately 437,200 people, of whom about 410,000 would be residents of Dodoma City, while another 27,000 would come from villages in Bahi District.

The DUWASA boss added that in Bahi Sokoni, the project would involve the development of water infrastructure and rehabilitation of two boreholes, installation of water pumps and construction of 19 kilometres of water transmission pipelines.

In Mpalanga Village, the project will include the construction of 8.6 kilometres of new pipelines and five water collection points.