Minister of Irrigation and Water Development Richie Muheya launched a sanitation and hygiene promotion campaign meant to sensitize the public to the importance of using toilets in Malawi’s commercial city, Blantyre. The campaign was launched with funding from the World Bank’s Water and Sanitation Program-Africa through Blantyre and Lilongwes water boards.
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Source: Caroline Somanje, The Nation, 28 March 2011
Posted in Campaigns and events, Hygiene promotion, Malawi
State Minister for Energy and Water, Coletha Ruhamya revealed that about 672,500 families nationwide have been connected to clean water with the new water supply and sanitation installations put in place during commemoration of the Water Week that ended 26 March 2011.
Residents of Busanza and Karama Cells, Kicukiro District with a population of 7,200 and 5,300 respectively, got access to clean water Over 14,000 people from the hilly areas of Gatebe and Kivuye sectors in Burera District, will have access to clean water, following the construction of a 24 km water supply system in the area.
Source: Grace Mugoya, The New Times / allAfrica.com, 27 March 2011 and Bonny Mukombozi, The New Times / allAfrica.com, 28 March 2011
Pit latrine emptying in Kibera. Photo: KWAHO
Four years after news agency IRIN released its award-winning documentary film “Slum Survivors”, its makers returned to the Kenyan slum of Kibera to see what had happened to the main characters.
One of the most striking sequences of the film showed Patrick Mburu emptying pit latrine toilets in the dead of night. He did not much care for the job but the money was good and as he put it at the time, “I’ll carry as much shit as it takes to keep my kid in school.”
Four years later Patrick is still emptying toilets and his kid is still in school – and doing quite well by all accounts.
See below the section of “Slum Survivors” that follows Patrick at work at night emptying shared latrines [segment starts at 1.50].
Posted in Information and communication, Kenya, Multimedia, On-site sanitation
Tagged Kibera, pit emptying, pit latrines, Slum Survivors, slums
Sandram Maweru, Principal Secretary of the Ministry of Irrigation and Water Development disclosed during a briefing on Tuesday 14 March 2011 in Lilongwe that the Government will launch a sanitation and hygiene campaign on Saturday 19 March 2011 as one way of improving hygiene in low-income areas of Blantyre and Lilongwe. The Government is working with partners such as WaterAid, Water for Life, Water for People and Lilongwe and Blantyre Water Boards in implementing the campaign.
Source: Samuel Chibaya, The Nation, 15 March 2011
Posted in Campaigns and events, Hygiene, Malawi, Sanitation
UNICEF has again chosen Anambra State as one of the few states to benefit from the rural water programmes of the Water Supply and Sanitation Reform Programme (WSSSRP) and Support to Reforming Institutions (SRIP). Briefing newsmen at a workshop organised by UNICEF, the state UNICEF consultant, Amina Ominyi, said Anambra was chosen because of its past performances. She said the programme covered only one out of the five local governments earlier selected.
Source: Daily Independent / allAfrica.com, 8 March 2011
Posted in Financing, Nigeria, Transparency, Water supply
The African Development Bank (AfDB) will provide US$ 29.65 million to support urgent rehabilitation works – restoration and stabilization of water supply and sanitation services in the Municipalities of Harare, Chitungwiza, Mutare, Chegutu, Masvingo and Kwekwe. The Urgent Water Supply and Sanitation Rehabilitation Project is one of two projects that have been identified for financing from the new Zimbabwe Multi-Donor Trust Fund (Zim-Fund). AfDB launched the Zim-Fund on 7 March 2011, as a successor to the Zimbabwe Programmatic Multi-Donor Trust Fund (Zim-MDTF).
The Urgent Water Supply and Sanitation Rehabilitation Project targets a total population of approximately 4.15 million people. The envisaged outcomes include: increased reliability, quality and availability of water supply in the project areas; restored wastewater treatment capacity; and reduced incidence of cholera and other water related diseases.
Donors’ commitments to the Zim-Fund currently stand at an equivalent of US$ 68.8 million. Donors so far include Australia, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, UK (DfID) and Germany (KfW).
Source: AfDB – Zimbabwe Multi-Donor Trust Fund
Like any other Kenyan slum, Waruku settlement, part of Nairobi’s sprawling Kangemi slums is bursting under population pressure. The mud and corrugated iron walled shanties are packed together – neighbours can literally talk to each other from the comfort of their beds. Plots are separated by footpaths that are often just centimetres wide, some of which double as drainage channels.
Drinking water has to be bought from vendors, sometimes without knowing where it comes from. There is hardly any space for sinking pit latrines. Waruku residents often drop their faecal matter into plastic bags, and then fling them above the slum canopy, Nairobi slums’ infamous ‘flying toilets.’
Teresia Wasuka, mother of five, has lived as a squatter in Waruku settlement, for several years. In 2007, she joined a collective savings group. She contributed towards building toilets for her community, in return Teresia Wasuka is getting a home to call her own.
Source: Isaiah Esipisu, Inter Press Service /allAfrica.com, 6 March 2011
Posted in Kenya
Tagged microcredit, public bathing facilities, public toilets, slums, water vendors
With a population exceeding 10,000, Nyankanga ward in Musoma District faces acute shortage of water, a situation that forces its people especially women and children to walk long distance in search of water.
The nearest constant supply of safe water is Lake Victoria, which is an over two-hour round trip from Nyankanga village. Some villagers routinely make this trip three or four times a day, every day, which leaves very little time for other tasks.
The efforts by St John’s Church to build tanks by their homes to harvest rainwater could not yield fruits as the village gets scanty rainfall.
Source: Beldina Nyakeke, The Citizen / allAfrica.com, 7 March 2011
The City of Cape Town is looking to harvest methane gas from water treatment plants to make the city more self-sufficient, the city’s executive director for utility services, Lungile Dlamini has revealed.
The plan to use the methane gas from sewage was already at an advanced stage and the city was examining which technology was best suited before putting the project out to tender, said Dlamini.
Dlamini, along with other city officials, was briefing reporters last week as the City of Cape Town prepared to host World Water Day on March 22 in conjunction with the UN, the Dutch government and “all big-hitters in the world water community,” said Piers Cross, UN reporter for the event.
Source: Shaun Benton, TNA The New Age, 8 March 2011
Selling water at more than Sh2 per 20 litre jerrycan will attract a heavy punishment including withdrawal of licences, water vendors have been warned.
Mombasa Water and Sewerage Company managing director Moses Kinya said water vendors should not take advantage of the shortage in Mombasa and other parts of the region to oppress customers by overcharging them. “This is a measure we have taken after receiving reports that some of the water vendors are overcharging their customers,” said Kinya.
Water vendors in Bamburi, Mtopanga and Kisauni are charging as much as Sh7 per 20 litre jerrycan. Kinya said they have put in place other strict rules in order to ensure health safety.
The MWSC boss said they will not issue a license to water kiosks that are less than 100 metres apart. He also cautioned them that unhygienic premises will attract a heavy fine in addition to withdrawal of their license. “They must ensure that the area they sell water from is hygienically maintained and that the place is always drained and dry,” said Kinya.
The vendors usually buy water from the company at cheaper rates. After withdrawal of the licences, the vendors will continue getting water but they will be charged at normal domestic rates.
The vendors will also be required to display the Sh2 price, the kiosk number and the metre number. “Failure to do this will also result in the withdrawal of licenses,” said Kinya.
Source: Brian Otieno, Nairobi Star / allAfrica.com, 3 March 2011
AllAfrica News: Water and Sanitation The Southern Africa Water Wire – INTER PRESS SERVICE
