Times of Zambia Examines Government’s Plans To Develop National Water Supply, Sanitation Program
The Times of Zambia on Monday examined the Zambian government's plans to develop a national water supply and sanitation program to thwart the spread of cholera and other waterborne diseases. The Ministry of Local Government and Housing will implement separate programs for rural and urban areas.
The rural element aims to create 10,000 water points and about 700,000 household latrines by 2015. Area development committees have been created to maximize the reach of the program in rural communities, the Times of Zambia reports. The rural component of the initiative seeks to raise the percentage of people there who have access to clean water to 55% by 2010 and 75% by 2015. In 2006, 37% of people in rural areas of Zambia had access to clean water.
Community members will participate in the process of assessing their own water supply and sanitation facilities and help to identify places where new water points should be constructed. In rural areas, construction of a water point is expected to cost 1,500,000 Zambian Kwachas or about $265,and residents are expected to help fund it.
Program support teams have been established in all nine provinces to oversee the implementation of the project. The goal of the program is to reduce cases of cholera and other water-borne disease by 30% by 2015 (Muleya, Times of Zambia, 4/13).
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