The rural water project initiative, which resulted from the long-term bilateral co-operation between the governments of the Gambia and Japan, has been taking pace in the rural areas, especially in areas around of the Lower River Region, most notably, in the Districts of Kiang.

The initiative, accordingly, falls in line with the Gambia Government's resolve in improving the lives of rural villagers through the provision of clean and portable safe-drinking water, which is also in line with government's resolve to meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by the target year of 2015.

Villagers in these areas recently spoke to the Daily Observer about the immense benefits the project has registered since it inception.

Kebba Lang Fadera, the Alkalo of Nema, one of the beneficiary villages in Central Kiang, Lower River Region, said that the initiative which was brought in his village in early November, 2007, has immensely contributed in improving the living conditions of the poor villagers.

The Nema Alkalo noted that his people could now boast of a safe drinking water supply, which he said, has gone a long way in sustaining the healthy living condition of the villagers. He stressed that the project could not have come at a better moment in his village, when the estimated three thousand poor villagers had been depending on the only available six local hand pumps, which, he said, had never been able to meet the high demand of the people.

"The importance of this initiative in my village cannot be overemphasised," the Alkalo posited. And he continued: "The project has provided twelve taps in different locations in the village, making easy access to clean and portable safe drinking water that we had been yearning for for quite a long time."

The village head then hailed the government of the Gambia, under the able leadership of President Jammeh, for their smart decentralisation process, as well as the importance the government attaches to rural development.