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With the turning on of an imitated tape, South African former president Nelson Mandela on Wednesday opened the Water Dome, the venue and exhibition center dealing with all water-related issues.
"The access to drink water is the basic rights of everybody. South African government had solved millions of people's water problem, this is a great achievement of democratic South Africa," said Mandela.
The 84-year-old icon of peace seemed healthy and in a good spirit, despite the small deformity in his legs.
Water Dome, a big building complex in the north of Johannesburg, would be the venue to a series of parallel events to the 10-day World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) to call attention to the crucial role water plays in the sustainable development and to increase awareness of water issues among the delegates.
The WSSD, which was opened here Monday, is scheduled to end on Sept. 4.
(People's Daily August 29, 2002)
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