Mwanza, 28 June 2018--Residents of the informal settlements of Mabatini, Igogo and Kilimahewa in Mwanza, Tanzania have a reason to smile as they access safe sanitation and clean water in the rocky hills of Mwanza.

Two-thirds of the urban population of Mwanza live in informal settlements where there is inadequate provision of basic services such as water supply, sanitation facilities, wastewater treatment, solid waste management, and access roads. The densely populated informal settlements are built on granite rocks and steep slopes and sanitation conditions are conceivably deplorable.

There is hope. Lake Victoria water and sanitation programme in Mwanza has been able to provide 2,334 residents in informal settlements of Kilimahewa, Mabatini and Igogo access to sanitation through the simplified sewerage system as well as access to clean water supply.

“Before this intervention, the sanitation situation in this area was very poor. We couldn’t achieve sufficient depth for our pit latrines due to the rocky nature of our land. We constructed shallow pit latrines which filled up quickly. The absence of a sewerage system and inaccessibility of our area by exhauster trucks meant that people had to find a way of emptying their pit latrines whenever they filled up. During the rainy season, residents would then take the opportunity to empty their pit latrines and let the faecal matter flow downhill through the neighbours houses and pathways resulting into disagreements.

Also, the project has significantly improved our access to clean and safe water and eliminated the challenges that women encountered as they woke up at night to look for water far away from their homes says,” Mr. Suleiman Sandor who is the Multistakeholders forum chair, Kilimahewa.

The communities are happy that the WASH - related diseases will no longer be a problem. Mr. Michael Masonga- Multistakeholders forum vice chair, Mabatini said, “last year the community lost five members due to Cholera outbreak. But now the community is happy and enjoying the benefits of the sanitation project in Mabatini. There is respite from the beneficiaries, accessing the rocky hills to their homes will no longer be a challenge, the project too has made accessibility possible by constructing stair way up the rocky hills which is meant to protect the waste pipes as well as act as an access road for residents.

“I am happy, we can see the project and attest to its benefits to the residents. The aim of the project was to provide access to sanitation and clean water to the informal settlements, we are glad that the project has not only achieved that, but it has also made accessibility of residents to their homes easier and better through the stairway up the rocky hill. I am grateful to the residents who through the Multistakeholders forum have shown their support, involvement and participation before, during and after implementation of the project, thank you for fulfilling your mandate and responsibilities.” Mr. Raoul Pedrazzani, representative of the European Investment Bank.

This project has been by funded and implemented by The European Investment Bank (EIB), Agence Française de Développement (AFD), the Government of Tanzania in partnership with UN-Habitat through the Lake Victoria water and sanitation programme – Mwanza. The aim of the project is to contribute to the reduction of pollution flowing into the lake by making improvement in sustainable water supply and sanitation infrastructure in secondary towns in Lake Victoria Basin.