RWAMAGANA- A local non-governmental organisation, PURASANI project with support from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), last week, pledged to empower local leaders to maintain rural water facilities in the Eastern Province.

At a meeting with Eastern Province leaders, JICA officials pointed out that one of the challenges of water supply in rural areas were capacity gaps, among local authorities and cooperatives, in managing the water facilities.

A JICA official, Kohei Takimoto, said that capacity building programme will target Rwamagana, Kayonza, Ngoma and Kirehe districts.

"We are training communities and schools in effective methods for improving sanitation and hygiene. Significant achievements and good practices made through the project are expected to be shared with other parts of the country,” he said.

The Executive Secretary of the province, Jean Marie Makombe, commended the project’s performance in the said four districts.

"The skills PURASANI gave local leaders, community members and service providers will help in sustaining the water infrastructure. Water accessibility increased to 53 percent as a result,” he said.

The Programme Manager of Water for People Rwanda, Peterson Mutabazi, however, petitioned stakeholders to consider installing water pumps in villages, saying it was cost effective.

"Rural people prefer spring water to pump water...pumped water consumers are few, which is why the water prices remain high,” he said.

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