A total of sixty families living in Upolu are getting water tanks. The families have been identified by Red Cross Society. 

Chief Executive Officer of Red Cross Samoa, Namulauulu Tautala, said the project is funded by European Union (E.U.) though Government under the Water and Sanitation Sector.

She added that they are still waiting for the Government to provide the water tanks for this year alone.

“We are one of the implementing agencies within the water and sanitation sector,” she said.

“The year is coming to an end but we are patiently waiting because the funding for 60 water tanks has already been made available.”

The role of Red Cross involves some of their staff members to provide the expertise with water tanks installation.

“It is because we have to comply with international standard. There is a system that has to clean the rain water before going into the tanks. We also train families to maintain their water tanks.

“The initiative started after the water infrastructure in the rural areas affected by the tsunami was completely destroyed in 2009.

“Our organisation is not rich but we depend on our donors to provide us resources in doing that we came up with a proposal to help the many people who were in need of water.”

She said that they knew Government had funding through E. U. for water supply that is also allocated to Samoa Water Authority (S.W.A.).

“So many people came to Red Cross asking for help so we compiled the list of names and gave it to the Government.

“The eligibility process for families to get a water tank include: home location distance from water pipes, elders, people with disabilities, low income families, unemployed families, and single mothers raising a families.

“Luckily Samoa was able to form a Water and Sanitation sector - it is one of the fourteen sectors in Samoa under the Government Planning initiative. It is one of the priority sectors as it directly impacts on the quality of life of the people and overall productivity of the population.”

The Red Cross C.E.O. also told this newspaper that Savaii has been targeted for next year’s water tanks distributions.

“Over 5,000 water tanks have been distributed around Upolu in previous years.

“One of our roles is to assist vulnerable people especially those who have no access to water. But even before tsunami when Cyclone Heta hit Samoa in 2004, we also installed some water tanks in Falealupo for 23 families funded by EU through the Samoan Government.

“Water is very significant in everyday life because no one can survive without any water, not having water leads to more problems in sanitation needed to flush toilets.”