A new water supply project on a Vanuatu island is now providing safe water to 2000 people on the island of Malo.
The 44 kilometres of pipeline, opened this week, cost $US1.7 million dollars to install.
It has been a multi party exercise involving the Vanuatu government, World Vision, the New Zealand aid programme and UNICEF.
The UNICEF chief of field office in Vanuatu, Andrew Parker, said the Vanuatu government requires buy in from the local communities on these sorts of projects and the communities in eastern Malo certainly did what was required.
"The community themselves have dug by hand the 44 kilometres of trenches for pipes to be laid. Obviously they were paid for their work but working, digging trenches in the environment we live in in Vanuatu is not for the fainthearted. And so i really take my hat of to them for staying with it and getting it done."
