EDITORIAL: Access to clean water: The private sector can do more

The Government has urged the private sector to take a pro-active lead and invest in projects that would lead to increased access to clean water. The call comes ahead of this year’s World Water Day which falls on March 22. Access to clean water is central to development. It is key to the achievement of the Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDPRS)-II and Vision 2020 targets. However, despite government efforts to ensure access to clean water, more is yet to be done to ensure universal access to safe water. Water coverage in Rwanda stands at over 80 percent thanks to government programmes, which have seen a rapid roll-out of water supply projects across the country. But to build on this, there is need for the private sector to supplement this effort through investing in projects linked to ensuring increased access to water especially in the rural areas. The investment can be in terms of setting up water collection centres or even helping homes to set up water storage facilities like water tanks, among others. It can also take a form of public-private partnership to set up big water supply plants that need a lot of resources in terms of money. Even investment in maintenance of existing water supply projects will go a long way in addressing the problem of water shortage in some parts of the country. Areas with functional water supply facilities should also be sensitised to ensure that they keep them in good state. Up to 393 of the 1,029 rural water supply systems need urgent rehabilitation because they broke down as a result of poor maintenance. A lot of money is invested in construction of the water supply systems, to realize that most of them are no longer operational calls for urgent action.

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EDITORIAL: Access to clean water: The private sector can do more