Natives of the Paraguayan Chaco celebrate the arrival of drinking water

(CNN Spanish) – Indigenous communities of the Paraguayan Chaco celebrated on Wednesday the arrival of the potable water service, available for the first time in history for those territories, the government reported.

In the Samaria village, where the system was inaugurated, indigenous children jumped and danced under the water that was pouring down on them. Drinking water is now available to the 215 families that make up the community.

The aqueduct work is integrated by a home distribution network and a 40,000-liter tank, according to the Ministry of Public Works and Communications from Paraguay, promoter of the project.

Access to drinking water through taps located in each of the houses will represent, according to the specialists in charge of the project, the possibility of leaving behind the heavy burden of collecting it from ponds and cisterns after long walks under the high temperatures of the Chaco .

The installation of the drinking water system in the Chaco, according to the Paraguayan Information Agency, will benefit 70,000 residents of Mariscal Estigarribia, Villa Choferes, Cruce Loma Plata, Cruce Pioneros and Tte.

Irala Fernandez. This universe of users includes some 36,000 people from native communities such as Yalve Sanga, Nueva Promesa, La Armonía, El Estribo, Paz del Chaco, Nueva Vida, Uj’e Lhavos, Yvopey Renda, Cacique Mayeto, Cayin’o Clim, Laguna Negra, Sana Teresita, Colonia 22, Colonia 15 de Agosto, among others.

The execution of the Aqueduct Project corresponds to the first stage and, according to the government, it was financed with local funds.

The authorities in charge of the project announced that the second and third stages will be financed through a non-reimbursable cooperation from the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation, a loan from the Inter-American Development Bank, as well as a local counterpart.