The Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency (Ruwasa) in Kagera Region plans to start connecting water services to households at no cost, to ensure residents consume safe water from reliable sources.
That clearly piece of good tidings is reported in a news item titled: “Ruwasa to connect water services to households at no cost – manager” (Custodian, February 20, p. 3). The Kagera RC thanked the Agency for coming up with such an arrangement which will see most of the residents’ access “tape water”, according to the reporter.
“Tape water?” God forbid; for “tape”, when conceived in the context of access to water by human beings, brings up ideas of intestinal diseases. Tapeworm, though not directly connected to water consumption, is a long flat worm that can live in somebody’s abdomen and make them very ill.
Since there are so many water-borne diseases, governments all over the World, make efforts to ensure that their people consume safe water. Many times, this water is distributed through pipes ending up with taps, from which the water can then be accessed. In that case, it is called “tap water” and not “tape water”.
The people of Kagera are getting connected to safe, clean tap water, free of charge! The RC is further reported to have said that such a project is vital because it increases people’s trust ‘to’ their government. “People’s trust to their government” reminds one of the American dictum “in God we trust”. It does not say “to God we trust”.
Likewise, we can say, a project like this, of supplying the rural folk with tap water, “increases the peoples’ trust ‘in’ their government”. “Trust in”, not “trust to”. From Kagera, we travel to Mkuranga District where “local, foreign investors are invited to invest in beach tourism” (p. 7).
The reason for this invitation is reported to be because: “Mkuranga District is endowed with a lot of nice beaches along the coastline with 90 kilometres of land along the beach which can be used for the construction of hotels as well as ‘modern beaches’. The District has not invested much in the ‘construction of beaches’ ‘over’ lack of capital”.
The question is: do you construct beaches, modern or otherwise? Is that what the writer had in mind? We do not think so. Apparently, Mkuranga has pristine, untapped (not ‘untaped’, please) beaches. Entrepreneurs are invited not construct them, since they are already in place but, to develop them. The District is unable to do that “for” (not “over”) lack of capital”.
Investor would put up the infrastructure and services to make these beaches attractive to visitors, especially tourists. There is more, according to the reporter: “Mkuranga is also endowed with mangrove forests located at Mdimni Village, 95km from Mkuranga District Centre that people from different areas can visit ‘there’ and learn from ‘there’.
Investors keen to invest ‘there’ will find everything they need”. Why this obsession with ‘there’, ‘there’, ‘there’, which looks like a direct translation from Swahili?
We propose to do away with all the three ‘there’s, by re-writing the above two sentences as follows: “Mkuranga is also endowed with mangrove forests located at Mdimni Village, 95km from Mkuranga District Centre that people from different parts can visit and learn from. Investors keen to put their money in the area will find everything they need prepared for them”.
Lest I forget, the reporter seems to say “Mkuranga District is endowed as well, with a lot of tourist attractions that ‘includes’ eco-tourism, beach tourism, nature tourism, historical heritage tourism that involve antiquities, caves, ‘old building’ and several others”. Since the attractions are many, they ‘include’ (not ‘includes’).
Moreover, it is highly unlikely that there is just one old building. We propose the following re-write: “Mkuranga District is endowed as well, with a lot of tourist attractions that ‘include’ eco-tourism, beach tourism, nature tourism, and historical heritage tourism; the latter involving antiquities, caves, ‘old buildings’ and several other features”.
Bye bye February!
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