27,000 people have benefited from the Ecological Purification System - Usamate

About 27,000 people have benefited from the Ecological Purification System funded and supported by the Fijian government and Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

JICA is a semi-governmental organisation providing official assistance funded by the Japanese government.

While speaking in a public seminar at the University of the South Pacific, Minister for Infrastructure Jone Usamate says a grant of 1.4 million dollars was given to the Water Authority of Fiji by the government in 2018 which enabled the Authority to put these systems up in order to provide cleaner and safe drinking water in rural areas.

Due to the presence of microscopic organisms, algae and sand particles in drinking water it can make a person sick if consumed regularly and therefore the system uses natural phenomena of purification to make the water safer and cleaner to drink. 

Usamate says the constitution guarantees the right to every Fijian to clean and safe water in adequate quantities and accessible and adequate sanitation facilities.

The government has set a target of providing safer drinking water in rural areas by 2021 with the aim to provide safer drinking water to both rural and urban areas by 2030 which would be benefitted by thousands of people.