Director General Peter Mahal Dhieu Akat (left) at the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation in South Sudan announced the establishment of a Smart Centre in his country. He expects that the centre will bring his country more practical skills for drilling bore holes for ground water and placing hand pumps. According to Mr Akat, South Sudan lacks a facility for such vocational training of water technicians. Henk Holtslag (right) of the Smart Centre Group expects the new training facility to become operational later this year. It will be the fifth Eastern African country to have a facility to train water technicians in drilling wells, and in manufacturing and selling hand and rope pumps. The Smart Centres also train entrepreneurs to sell these affordable and repairable water supply products in rural areas. By building a local supply chain that includes skills and maintenance, Holtslag experienced that this approach is the best guarantee to avoid wells to dry up and pumps to be left unused when broken down.

The full news item can be accessed through the website www.dutchwatersector.com.