The World Bank's board of executive directors has approved a
loan of US$25 million to help improve access to water and
sanitation in west China, the WB China office announced on
Wednesday.
The Western Provinces Rural Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene
Promotion Project is intended to increase the access of poor
communities to sustainable and equitable water supplies, sanitation
and hygiene promotion services by adopting an integrated and
participatory approach, which can be replicated in other provinces,
according to a WB statement.
The total investment costs are US$75.36 million, with US$25
million?of loans from the WB, US$25 million of grants from the
United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID) and
US$25.36 million from the participating provinces of Shaanxi and
Sichuan.
According to the WB, the project will be implemented in 25
counties.
More than 60 percent of the investment will be spent on
improving access to safe drinking water, through the construction
of piped water supply systems, rainwater collection systems and
wells. All schools within the project areas of Shaanxi Province and
selected schools in Sichuan Province will be supplied with safe
water.
More than a quarter of the investment will go into improving
environmental sanitation, by building or upgrading household,
public and school toilets, hand washing and drainage facilities,
and garbage drop-off points.
The project will also support hygiene promotion, as well as
providing management and technical training.
More than 300 million people in China have no access to safe and
clean drinking water, most of them in comparatively poor rural
areas.
The government has pledged to provide safe and clean drinking
water for 160 million rural people by 2010, and for all rural
people by 2015.
(Xinhua News Agency June 28, 2007)