KAMPALA - The ongoing African Water and Sanitation Congress in Kampala, has agreed that Uganda hosts the regional water and sanitation institute.

The institute will be responsible for equipping the region with information on water and sanitation.

It will also offer water management, construction and engineering skills to mid-level water managers, with an aim of eliminating hardships facing water systems in the region.

Speaking to The New Times, Eng. James Sano, Rwanda’s representative at the conference and the Water and Sanitation Coordinator in the Ministry of Infrastructure, commended the initiative, describing it as a milestone for streamlining water management in the region and Africa as a whole.

"We need technicians who can manage infrastructure in Rwanda and I think this college will absolutely help our country in terms of elevating our infrastructure environment.”

He said that the country would send middle level qualified students to train for the betterment of water management in the country.

Sano called on all Rwandans to get involved in the conservation of water sources and in water supply management to improve water services. 

"We need to get more people, especially from the villages, to engage in the water supply system to improve and streamline our services as well as obtaining adequate clean water,” he said.

He also appealed to financial institutions to help investors in the sector access loans.

"Water and sanitation policy calls for involvement of public and private sector partners, but these people do not have incentives,” Sano said.

The congress is expected to come up with the final resolutions on how to curb all the hardships facing water and sanitation on the continent. 

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