Mbarawa says plans underway to review national water policy
In a bid to cope with changes that have occurred for the past 16 years, the government plans to review the National Water Policy that was tabled in Parliament as back as 2002.
Minister for Water, Prof Makame Mbarawa, made the revelation yesterday, saying the review would also provide the government with a framework to develop a national water and sanitation master plan.
"It is important for this matter to be expedited to ensure there is smooth implementation of (water) projects all over the country," said the minister, while opening the 12th joint water review meeting.
Under the theme 'Leaving No One Behind: Accelerating Universal Access to Water Supply and Sanitation Services in Changing Climate', the meeting aimed at reviewing a water sector performance in relation to the progress made towards achieving the planned targets of 2020, 2015 and 2025.
Prof Mbarawa informed the meeting that the review was vital due to climate change, water resources availability, technological advancement, population dynamics and local and international frameworks.
He noted that water sector professionals at local government authorities and regional levels, who were technically andadministratively accountable to the minister for Regional Administration and Local Government, had been transferred to the Ministry of Water.
"The review thus intends to improve supervision, accountability and coordination at technical and administrative levels and enhance sector performance towards improvement of water and sanitation services rendered to members of the public," said the minister.
Prof Mbarawa said so far, the Ministry of Water had carried out major reforms to cater for new developments in the sector of water, pointing out the establishment of Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency (Ruwasa) as among reform outcomes.
"Ruwasa will ensure the sustainable provision of rural water supply and sanitation services in the country," he said.
Prof Mbarawa pointed out that inspite of the fact that the Water Sector Development Programme (WSDP) had gained momentum, there was a need for more efforts in the mobilisation of financial resources for its smooth implementation.
"So far, we have mobilised about $1.9bn of the planned $3.3bn. The government is still soliciting other sources of financing to achieve the objectives and targets," he noted.
The minister said there was an urgent need for the meeting to seriously think and come up with solutions to the issue during discussions, saying if the resource gap was not addressed, it would hinder the performance of phase II of the programme.
"I am optimistic that experts meeting here will exhaustively discuss and come up with constructive recommendations of their assessment and a way forward," he said.
For his part, Permanent Secretary (PS) in the Ministry of Water, Prof Kitila Mkumbo, said the joint water review meeting, which brings together representatives from the government, development partners and civil society organisations, would conduct assessment of the WSDP implementation.
"Participants will get an opportunity to share what they observed during a joint supervision mission and propose a comprehensive an action plan in the water sector for the next year," said the PS