Key water projects ‘on track’ despite 17 percent drop in budget

Dar es Salaam. Tanzania will spend Sh558.1 billion on development projects for water during the next fiscal year as it seeks to raise access to the vital liquid to more than 85 percent or rural inhabitants.

Requesting Parliament to endorse a total of Sh627.7 billion for the ministry for both recurrent and development expenditure for 2024/25 on Thursday, Water minister Jumaa Aweso said access to safe and clean water to urban dwellers will also rise to 95 percent.

During a similar period last year, Mr Aweso informed Parliament that access to water in both rural and urban settings had increased from an average of 74.5 percent in December 2021 to an average of 77 percent in December 2022.

According to Mr Aweso, the increase was attributed to the completion of 586 projects comprising 5,748 water points benefiting approximately 4,086,442 citizens in 1,293 villages. This, further, brought the total number of rural citizens accessing water services to 30,209,409.

Mr Aweso stated that in order to achieve the goal of reaching over 85 percent of villages by 2024/25, the government has continued its efforts to construct and rehabilitate water projects, expand water distribution networks, and enhance rural water service management.

These efforts have resulted in an increase in the availability of water services from an average of 77 percent in December 2022 to approximately 79.6 percent in December 2023.

"The increased rate is due to the implementation of 632 projects comprising 7,956 water points capable of serving 4,740,959 citizens," he said.

By December 2023, water service availability in urban areas had reached an average of 90 percent compared to an average of 88 percent during the same period in 2022. This increase was due to the completion of 85 water projects serving a population of 4,641,505 in urban areas.

However, Members of Parliament expressed concern over the significant decline in the budget estimates for the Ministry of Water by 17 percent compared to the approved budget for the financial year 2023/2024.

The budget for the year 2024/25, estimated at Sh627.7 billion, has decreased from 756.2 billion in 2023/24.

Additionally, MPs noted that the estimates for development expenditure to fund Development Projects had decreased by Sh137.7 billion, equivalent to 18.4 percent, compared to the approved budget for the fiscal year 2023/2024, where 695.8 billion was allocated.

"The Committee's view is that this reduction in the Development Budget will affect the implementation of planned projects for the financial year 2024/2025," said the report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Water and Environment, read in Parliament by its chairperson, Mr Jackson Kiswaga (Kalenga-CCM).

According to the Committee's report, the budget for the Ministry of Water for the financial year 2024/2025 is 1.3 percent of the total government main budget.

"This situation indicates that the Ministry of Water's budget has decreased by 0.4 percent compared to the budget for the financial year 2023/2024," he said.

The Committee also noted that the development budget for the ministry for the financial year 2024/2025 is 1.1 percent of the total government development main budget, which is 32 percent.

"This analysis shows that the Ministry of Water is not among the government's priorities for this financial year," worried Mr Kiswaga.

According to the Committee, the government should increase the development budget for the Ministry of Water by Sh137.7 billion so that the Ministry can complete water projects and fulfil the promise of improving access to clean and safe water for citizens.

"Furthermore, this budget increase will enable the government to implement the President's commitment to providing water services to 2,581 villages that have not yet been reached by this service," he said.

The Committee also advises the government to recognise the importance of increasing funds in the National Water Fund to complete Major Strategic Projects on time.

In this regard, the government has been advised to increase funds from the current Sh50 per litre of Diesel and Petrol to Sh100; to seek other sources of funding such as bonds and to prepare documents to obtain funds from international finance sources.

Despite these challenges, the Ministry of Water plans to complete ongoing projects and continue with the construction of major projects as one of its priorities, including extending water services to villages without access.

Another priority is to complete the preparation of the National Water Master Plan and the review of the National Water Policy, as well as to accelerate the installation of prepaid water meters.