Huge congratulations to the people of Nusa Roviana and Baeni communities in the Western Province for the successful implementation and celebration of their newly installed water supply systems.
In Nusa Roviana, 20 hand pumps and four cement tanks with the capacity to store 5000 gallons of water were installed and in Baeni, 20 water standpipes set up, now enabling community members to access water with greater ease.
It was a great pleasure indeed for the Ministry of Health and Medical Services (MHMS) Rural Water Supply Sanitation and Hygiene (RWASH) national and provincial team to hand over the Water Supply systems to these communities.
Mrs. Margaret Toata, Environmental Health RWASH Training officer in her remarks at the celebration congratulated the people of Baeni and Nusa Roviana highlighting that the success of the project was mainly due to the overwhelming combined effort and support from the communities working effectively with RWASH officers including the engineers.
“While we are celebrating the successful completion of the project, we are also marking a new beginning of our journey, one that must ensure the sustainability and longevity of the water system. All the related trainings to monitor and repair the systems are to commence as of today and everyone must join in the efforts to take care of the systems so that it can serve well the people into the future”, said Mrs Toata.
She explained that both Baeni and Nusa Roviana communities are amongst the 39 communities across the country where the water supply system project is being implemented. “On this note may I thank the European Union for the funding support that has enabled the Ministry to carry out this health-preserving project.
Mrs. Merrlyn Vana, Western Provincial Environmental Health Division Officer who also delivered remarks at the celebration explained that water is a very expensive commodity but it is very important for human wellbeing.
“Today children and women can now easily collect water with ease and without having to walk a distance for their household chores. The availability of water at the doorsteps of households will also enable them to practice healthy practices such as hand washing with soap, brushing of teeth, bathing etc and we are hopeful that the system will reduce many sicknesses such as skin diseases, flu and diarrhea”, said Mrs. Vana.
Meanwhile, the community representatives including women and those with special needs in the communities thanked the MHMS Environmental Health RWASH team, the Western Provincial Environmental team, engineers, surveyors’ and trainers who worked tirelessly all throughout the first phase and to the completion of the projects.
“We will surely look after the water supply project. From the bottom of our hearts we want to thank the European Union (EU) for financial support, MHMS for coordination and Western Provincial Health team for the implementation of the project”, said one of the community representatives.
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