The government aims to provide the entire population with water by 2017. A number of water projects are underway and are in the pipeline. But with the recent increase in water tariffs, water shortage continues to persist in most areas.

Johnson Kanamugire caught up with the James Sano, chief executive officer of Water and Sanitation Corporation and sought some answers. Below are excepts:

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Government had set December 2015 as the deadline to end water shortage in Kigali, but shortage persists. What happened?

No. We said we would have reduced the water shortage issues very significantly. There is no city in the world which has completely solved the water problem.

We have managed to increase production from 65,000 cubic metres in Kigali to 90,000 cubic metres in one year thanks to the project we have been implementing called Nzove II, which we are now going to upgrade to add another 15,000 cubic metres by August this year. Our service level will increase from 65 per cent to 90 per cent.

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By the end of this year we are going to have 105,000 cubic metres after rehabilitating the existing Nzove I to maximum production from the current 25,000 to 40,000 cubic metres.

How much money is involved in the rehabilitation of the Nzove project?

We signed a contract worth $28 million. But this is not only for rehabilitation, it is also fuelling infrastructure towards Mount Kigali, Nyamirambo, Gisozi, Rebero and Gikondo, areas where we have problems.

We shall supply water by gravity, it’s a huge project that will enable us cover all the parts of Kigali in terms of consumption.

What’s holding back the Mutobo project which you said would end water shortage in Kigali?

This project is still in the pipeline because the perception people have out here is that the project started 10 years ago, which is not the case. We are still negotiating with investors to implement it. We have got a number of proposals but they do not meet the government expectations, and we cannot drag ourselves into a project which profits only the investor and not the government.

What do you mean by proposals that do not meet government expectations?

There are a number of things that we expect from these projects; like an affordable tariff, there is also the technology the investor produces. These are not met yet. We are not getting a tariff which will make the project finance itself so that it can be sustainable.

What is the disparity between the current capacity in water supply and demand?

We are producing the 65,000 cubic metres and the demand is 110,000 cubic metres, and that is why our service level is at 65 per cent.

But from next month we are going to have 90,000 cubic metres of water and we have started producing this water but we are still in the commissioning phase of the plant in Nzove. We are doing it alongside adjustment of the vault in the network in the city so that the flow of water can reach many places.

Some residents still find the water tariff high?

We have the lowest water tariffs compared with our neighbours in the region.

But citizens’ purchasing power and living standards are different.

Are you saying that Rwandans are poor? Our per capita income is higher than many countries in the region and this is on the World Bank record. So our water tariffs are lower.

Talking of water quality, and given that a section of Kigali dwellers still fetch from lower-line springs. Do you ensure the water is safe?

We do water tests every day in the water sources and in the network. It’s not that they are polluted; even when they get polluted somewhere we treat the water before it gets onto the grid.

These sources give us almost 5,000 cubic metres per day, but our long-term plan is to stop using the springs once we have enough water from our treatment plants.

Will Nzove I and II get operational by December?

Kigali will be having enough water in December or say January 2017 because you know projects take time, because until today it has not started. We have signed a contract but there are conditions to be met. So December is our projection.

The project should be operational by January 2017, that is when we will be having 120,000 cubic metres which is more than the current demand at 101,0000 cubic metres.

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Generally do you see yourself on track towards achieving 100 per cent water supply by 2017?

Generally, we are on track towards 2020 but with challenges. So the challenge is having the resources; not only financial because if they give you 100 per cent of the money today you will not give people water today. It will take you time to develop projects, studies, tendering.