RURAL WATER SUPPLY AND SANITATION

Training of VWSS personnel will include B.S.-level engineering studies at U.S. institutions for three Senior Technical Officers (STO) and technical diploma training in engineering for 20 Technical Assistance Officers (TAO) at Lerotholi Polytechnic. In-service training will be provided annually for 33 TAO"s, 36 VWSS laborers and STO"s. Training and tools will be provided to 547 select villagers, known as "waterminders", to perform minor system maintenance. One regional and three district maintenance centers will be constructed, enabling the VWSS to provide better system maintenance and support to village waterminders. The Ministry of Health (MOH) will provide a health education specialist to coordinate water-related health and sanitary education and to ensure that all proper health measures are taken prior to system construction, thus establishing a basis for improved coordination between MOH and MORD. In addition, VWSS organizational, management, and operational procedures for system identification, design, and maintenance will be improved, including improvement of support capabilities such as financial record-keeping and inventory management. Construction will include installation of 142 new community water supply systems, rehabilitation of 68 existing failed systems, and the introduction of latrines into areas where their usage was previously nonexistent. All systems will develop naturally potable water sources to lessen contamination hazards and will be one of three types: (1) simple protected springs without distribution; (2) high level spring cappings with storage and gravity conveyance pipeline and distribution; and (3) hand pumps on boreholes placed in village centers of usage. The systems, which will be built on a self-help basis, will serve minimum domestic needs of 225 villages with a population of 400, for a total of 90,000 persons, most of whom will be women.