Kigali City Council is set to spend US$ 87,600 (about Rwf 49,056,000) on bio-treatment liquids to be used in the city’s house-hold latrines.

The funds were obtained through a Japanese grant whose contract was signed yesterday, between the Mayor, Dr. Aisa Kirabo Kakira and the Japanese Ambassador, Shigeo Iwatani, at the City headquarters.

The first target beneficiaries of the initiative will be families located in the Biryogo, Gikondo and Mijina areas of the town, the two officials said.

"We have a big problem of waste because many people in Kigali City use pit latrines that sometimes remain in use when they are full…the level of increase of this waste, doesn’t match with the capacity of people’s sanitation facilities,” the Mayor said shortly after signing for the grant.

Each family among about 1200 families in the areas is to be provided with about two litres of the made in Rwanda liquid code named OSS (Organic Solution Secondary), said Eugene Rangira, a Rwandan businessman who invested in the project and will jointly provide the product together with his Japanese counterparts.  He said that the liquid helps to reduce bad smell and the flies from the pits, and stabilise the volume of waste.

"Our wish is to make the liquid available to many people in their families and in other places where they meet such as schools and military camps,” Rangira explained. He said that the liquid was tested in Kenya for efficiency and environmental friendliness.

Instructions prescribed on its containers direct the user to pour one litre of OSS every week in a toilet that is used by a family of one to seven people and more quantity depends on the family size.

The liquid that Rangira explains is made from products found here in Rwanda would cost about Rwf 1,500 per litre.

The Japanese government funded the project through its Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Projects (GGP), a support initiative for non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and other members of the civil society.

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