|
|
|
|
| Ambassador's Speech>2011 >110220 | |||||
|
|||||
| at the Inauguration Ceremony for the Project to Supply Water in the Chancho Kebele, Oromia on 20 February, 2011 |
|||||
| Your Excellency, Ato Girma Woldegiorgis, President of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, Ato Gudeta Gelalcha, Executive Director, HOPE 2020, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen, Good morning. Akkam Bultan. It is a great pleasure for me to have this opportunity to attend the inauguration ceremony for the rural water supply project in the Chancho Kebena Kebele, Jeldu Woreda, Oromia with Your Excellency, President Girma. The project was funded by Japan’s grant-in-aid scheme for grassroots and human security projects, amounting to about USD100,000. It was implemented, almost on schedule, by HOPE 2020, a celebrated Ethiopian NGO. Improving access to safe potable water has been a great challenge in Ethiopia. It is all the more so in the Jeldu Woreda where only four percent of the population enjoyed safe water. The situation was even worse here in the Chancho Kebena Kebele as there was no safe water at all for the scattered population. Here, there was only one unprotected underground water source to which the residents came to get water, some spending two to three hours for a round trip every day. What a heavy duty for women and children! Partly for this reason, some of the Kebele residents living in the outlying areas used water from nearby springs or even the surface water for drinking, sharing it with cattle. This water, however, was often contaminated, particularly in the dry season. This caused various diseases in the community. In these circumstances, this project aimed to supply safe water to the residents in the Chancho Kebena Kebele and thereby to improve sanitation. As a result of this project, a water supply system has been installed at three locations, composed of three spring caps to protect the water source from contamination, three water storage facilities, six water distribution points and water pipes. 3,250 residents will enjoy the benefits as they now have access to safe water within 1.5 km of their residences at maximum, and no fear of diseases originating from water any longer. There is one more feature of this project, worth mentioning. This is an eco-friendly project, fitting Ethiopia’s policy priority on alternative energy development. Solar power is used to supply electricity to pumps to feed water in from sources in the lower areas. Moreover, this is a community project as people in the local community participated in the project by offering their labor, donating local construction materials, and digging trenches for water pipes stretching more than nine thousand meters. Excellency, Ladies and Gentlemen, The safe water supply system is now handed over to Hope 2020. I am confident that you will make the most use of it and enjoy great benefits. Please keep in mind that it is equally important to maintain the facilities in good condition, including the solar panels, so that the water supply system will serve the local interests for a long period. Finally, I do hope that we can work together in the future for the economic and social development of rural areas in Ethiopia. Thank you for your attention. Galatoomaa. Fayyaa ta’a. |
|||||
|
|||||
