SPEECH OF THE HONOURABLE MINISTER OF NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENERGY, HON. JABULILE MASHWAMA (SENATOR)
AT THE
SIGNING OF MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING CEREMONY BETWEEN INTERNATIONAL RELIEF & DEVELOPMENT (IRD), MNRE AND OTHER COOPERATING PARTNERS.
04th JUNE 2014 AT MOUNTAIN INN HOTEL.
Regional Administrators
Representative of IRD
Representatives of USAID/OFDA (donors)
Representative of UNICEF in Swaziland
Esteemed participants from His Majesty’s Government
Distinguished participant from our Development Co-operating Partners
Distinguished participants from the Civil Society
Members of the Press
Ladies and Gentlemen
It gives me immense pleasure to join you today, at this important occasion of the signing ceremony of the Memorandum of Understanding between my Ministry, the International Relief & Development (IRD) and other cooperating partners. It is a great honour for me to have been invited to this memorable occasion. A special welcome is graciously extended to representatives from IRD, USAID/ OFDA and other partners who had to travel from near and far to our unique and beautiful Kingdom.
I am proud to mention that IRD has been working with the Ministry since 2007 in an endeavour to reduce the vulnerability of drought-affected communities in the lowveld and thus mitigating the impacts of climate variability and change on agriculture and water supply. The Ministry in collaboration with other partners have installed hand pumps in the rural communities; most of which are now dysfunctional due to technical challenges hence, they are now not useful to the communities. IRD in collaboration with USAID/OFDA and other partners launched a hand pump which is a better innovation than the latter. IRD is therefore embarking on the replacement and repair programme by introducing the Blue pumps and repairing all the broken hand pumps in the Lubombo and Shiselweni regions. This programme began in 2009 and to date; IRD has installed over 120 blue pumps in a total of 15 Tinkhundla under the two regions. A number of communities have since benefitted immensely from this programme as it is aimed at improving access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation.
IRD’s Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) sector significantly contributes to Swaziland’s plan of reaching the targets sets through the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that is meant to half, by 2022 the proportion of the population without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation. This forms part of Government’s initiative on the implementation of the sector wide approach in planning and budgeting. To achieve the MDG goal, the country needs significant financial resources and this is where our partners, USAID/OFDA and the other cooperating partners has been of great assistance to my Ministry in its endeavour to deliver potable water to rural communities. IRDs programmes also positively contribute to Government’s overall goal of the Poverty Reduction Strategy and Action Plan which was put together one word within the framework of the National Development Strategy(NDS).
The DWA has been facing capacity challenges over the years however; the Ministry has received Technical Assistance from the EU to strengthen the Department. To this, the Ministry is grateful as this will greatly enhance the IRD programme implementation. The Ministry is also in the process of finalising the development of a strategic plan that will address all the challenges that currently are facing the DWA in terms of capacity to enable the Department to perform its duties diligently and efficiently.
It is gratifying to mention that this is the first rural water supply and sanitation programme that involves a member of the private sector as a partner. This collaboration is indeed in line with His Majesty’s vision of attaining the first world status by 2022. I would like to urge other organisations to partner with my Ministry and participate in the provision of clean water supply in the rural communities to help Government achieve its goals.
I am very grateful for this support and the collaboration of the partners participating in this project who are IRD, MNRE, Standard bank, Ministry of Tinkhundla Administration, Fairwater, Nsoko Msele, and Water Brigade. The proper collaboration of these partners and implementation of their different roles will ensure the sustainability of this project. I am also pleased to note the communities’ involvement in the maintenance of these projects and applaud them for contributing towards the sustainability of these projects.
It is indeed a great honour for me to witness the signing on ceremony of this MOU by the Director Water Affairs on behalf of my Ministry and I am looking forward to the successful implementation of this project.
Thank you.
God Bless You