Water Resources Development Fund (WRDF) said it is speeding up efforts to utilize available funding for water resources development to address the burning needs of the society in various parts of the country.

WRDF Director General Wana Wake said that providing pure water and effective sanitation system across the country has paramount importance to cultivate healthy society in this country.

The Director also said pure water supply would assist to run most socioeconomic activities and the overall developmental endeavors, particularly where the rapid development of towns has been increasing through time.

As adequate pure water supply is required to enhance the development of towns, nothing will be done with insufficient supply of pure water in towns. To solve problems in water supply, the government and developmental partners have allocated budget with a high amount of 43.6 million dollars for 20 towns of six states in the country.

Wana also stated that the towns have been selected in six states of Amhara, Oromiya, Southern nation nationality and people (SNNP), Gambella, Tigray, and Benshangul Gumuz. The towns could also be selected based on their projects that offered high shortage of water supply, he said.

However, the water Resources development fund has not achieved the expected level. Of the 20 towns, Abiyadi in Tigray state is has already gone operational while the town of Sokotta in Amhara state is nearing completion.

After completion, the whole project will benefit about 1.6 million people in the selected six states, Wanna said.

State Minister in Water, Irrigation and Electricity Dr. Eng. Negash Wagisho on his part said that the fund aimed at working aggressively with stakeholders and international developmental partners in order to solve society's pure water problems.

Among the various problems, slow progress of project implementation, lack of skill manpower, low capacity of consultant, and lack of modern instrument are included.