CIBITOKE April 19th (ABP) – A closing workshop of the subsidy agreement for associations of irrigation water users (AUE) organized by UCODE-AMR, took place on Friday April 14, in the headquarters of Cibitoke province.
The purpose of the meeting was to see the activities carried out, the constraints encountered and the results achieved, according to the organizers of the workshop.
For the provincial head of UCODE-AMR in Cibitoke, Mr. Dieudonné Ndayiragije, an amount of more than 772,530 Euros was used for the six-year project, intended to support the WUAs for the irrigation perimeter, in the communes of Rugombo and Buganda.
In the achievements of the project, Mr. Ndayiragije mentioned the multiple supports to the WUAs, including the organization, operation and planning of activities but also support for communication between the UAEs, and the administration, and the provincial office. Environment, Agriculture and Livestock (BPEAE); capacity building for WUA representatives; study trips to the provinces of Rutana, Karusi and Ruyigi, which are more advanced in this area, and others. He indicated that all the planned activities were carried out at a rate of more than 70%.
However, he did not forget to list some constraints encountered, such as laziness among some WUAs which disrupted the synergy of actors and communication; farmers and owners of irrigated land who do not join these associations to pay water fees; collectors who embezzle collected royalties; lack of legal framework either for the WUAs or their federation, and others.
To achieve this, Mr. Ndayiragije called on the WUAs to change their behavior, and on the administrative staff to properly supervise the WUAs, and on the BPEAE to regularly build their capacities.
For the chief of staff of the governor of the province Cibitoke, Anicet Saïdi appreciated positively the rate of realization of the activities of the UCODE-AMR, and the recommendations towards the partners. He asked for more forces for those who do not want to join and those who resist paying water fees.
According to the representative of the communal administrator of Rugombo, Firmin Habumuremyi, the project came to reduce the conflicts related to the use of irrigation water which even injured people; but also to enable WUAs to increase their production and develop.
As for the representative of PAIOSA, who built the irrigation dam and the canals, he also disagreed with the construction of houses in the irrigated perimeter, and the establishment of fish ponds.
Regarding the increase in irrigation water, he revealed the current collection on the Muhira River to increase the flow and the extension of the irrigation perimeter on Rusororo hill in Rugombo commune.