3rd August, Saturday, 2019
last Wednesday, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and in association with Japan International Development Agency (JICA) inaugurated one of the world’s largest humanitarian solar water systems at Rohingya refugee Camp-12, Cox’s Bazar.
This water system will supply safe and clean water to approximately 30,000 people in the Kutupalong refugee camp. This mega and cost-effective water network was built from a deep underground well.
The entire project was the collaboration result of JICA, Bangladesh government, the US, and the IOM and was funded mainly by the US government and Japan.
The chief guest Local Government Division (LGD) Secretary Helal Uddin Ahmed officially inaugurated the network and said: “This network will go a long way in meeting the needs of the community and is a great example of cooperation between the agencies.”
Japan Embassy’s Minister Takeshi Ito who was present at the event said, “I would like to commend the people of Bangladesh who have accepted more than 700,000 displaced people. We are now providing safe water for 30,000 people and it will contribute to the realization of Sustainable Development Goal Number Six: ‘Clean Water and Sanitation for all.”
Located near the Bay of Bengal, the south-eastern region of Bangladesh (where all the refugee camps are located) lacks freshwater and adequate sources of drinking water. Inhabitants of refugee camps often had to rely on rainwater or walk miles to fetch fresh water. The recently completed well located just miles from Bangladesh’s border with Myanmar will help to resolve the water scarcity problem in the Rohingya refugee camps. The well is over three football fields in-depth, and the digging required a 20-ton drill imported from abroad.
