Tombo, January 18-The Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, Dr. Sao-Kpato Hannah Isatta Max-Kyne has today visited water catchment areas in the Wester Area Peninsula, as the Ministry and its partners prepare to launch the Western Area Peninsula Water Fund.
The visit was to assess the impact of anthropogenic activities on critical water catchments ahead of the water fund launch slated for January 25, 2024.
The Minister visited a Chinese-owned quarry at Comfort Bridge in the River No.2 Community, and the concrete demarcation representing the greenbelt in the Tombo-Madina communities. She was accompanied by senior officials the Catholic Relief Services in Sierra Leone, Caritas Freetown, National Water Resources Management Agency, and the Ministry of Water Resources.
The Minister was horrified by the state of deforestation around the visited catchment areas, and encouraged security officials deployed in these areas to be more vigilant in keeping away land grabbers, charcoal burners, tree cutters and polluters from our water sources.
His Excellency Vice President Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh will give the keynote address and subsequently launch the Western Area Peninsula Water Fund on January 25, 2024; at the Guma Valley Dam in Mile 13, Western Area Rural District.
The WAPWF is a nature-based solution that provides effective and financially sound means to address the growing water security challenges facing Freetown and its environs, targeting a population of almost two million people.
The Fund is also a public-private partnership investment scheme of US$ 20M that aims to protect and restore critical ecological infrastructure within the Western Area Peninsula, and will generate US$ 55M in economic benefits over a 30-year timeframe. In other words, every USD 1 invested by the Western Area Peninsula Water Fund is expected to generate at least USD 2.70 worth of benefits to stakeholders.
The program is expected to attract government officials, development partners WASH actors, private businesses, and community stakeholders.