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Minister of Water and Sanitation, Ms Nomvula Mokonyane, handed-over 154 completed Sanitation Facilities to the residents of Bloemhof, North West on Thursday, 24 November 2016 as part of World Toilet Day celebrations.

The handing over ceremony was held under the theme “It’s not all about flushing” and formed part of the Bucket Eradication Programme which is aimed at addressing the legacy of bucket toilets.

About 105 households benefited through replacement of bucket toilets with waterborne toilets. The scope of the Bucket Eradication project comprised of connection to sewer network of 154 households, water reticulation of 115 households and installation of pre-cast toilet top structures of 57 households.

Giving her keynote address, Minister Mokonyane called on all residents of Bloemhof to be the eyes and ears of government by protecting the various facilities which are being provided to improve the lives of the communities for the better.

“We have just handed over an upgraded waste water treatment plant to the municipality which will assist to ensure that waste is treated at an acceptable standard. The municipality has to further ensure that it employs people with relevant skills to operate the plant”, said Minister Mokonyane.

The Minister indicated that ageing infrastructure, working in silos by departments with sanitation budgets, vandalism of infrastructure by communities and lack of dedicated budget for Operation and Maintenance of sanitation infrastructure are some of the main challenges that need to be carefully looked at to ensure that challenges around provision of decent sanitation is holistically addressed.

The hand-over of the Sanitation Facilities formed part of the sanitation campaign which the department is embarking on to raise awareness and educate people about how some prevalent diseases can be avoided through hand washing and decent sanitation services.

The World Toilet Day is an annual event used as a platform to raise awareness of the sanitation issues and encourage key role players including ordinary citizens to take up their role in partnering with government to eradicate sanitation backlogs. The Department of Water and Sanitation and partners used the event to recognise the importance to celebrate progress made in reducing the sanitation backlog and further recommit towards making current sanitation services sustainable.

Issued by Department of Water and Sanitation