Staff Reporter
THE Minister of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform, Calle Schlettwein, announced that his ministry completed a number of projects over the past year to enhance water security in the country, particularly in the rural areas.
“The current average percentage of rural households with access to potable water supply coverage countrywide is estimated at around 91.5%, this is a commendable achievement considering the imminent challenges such as climate change impacts in the form of drought, ageing infrastructure and low water pressure and dam levels across the country,” he said.
The minister made these remarks at the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform’s Management Review Workshop for the third quarter of the 2024/2025 financial year, where he revealed that the ministry had constructed a number of key water infrastructure projects during the 2024/2025 financial year.
“As part of the efforts to ensure water security for livestock, the ministry prioritized the construction of harvesting infrastructure in strategic placed which resulted in a total of 16 new earth dams being constructed during the first three quarters of the current financial year,” he said.
Schlettwein further revealed that the ministry constructed approximately 22 pipelines across various regions, connected 2,660 private off-takes (POTs) in various regions, and drilled 136 new boreholes, of which 122 were installed. In addition, he stated that the ministry also constructed a total of 238 sanitation facilities nationwide.
