340 000 Uzbekistan Citizens to Benefit from
World Bank Financing of Improved Water Delivery
Five Districts in Uzbekistan’s Syrdarya Region to Get Improved Public Water Supply Services
TASHKENT, September 16, 2011 – More than 340 000 people in Uzbekistan will benefit from a US$88 million IDA Credit, signed today by the World Bank and the Government of Uzbekistan, to improve water supply service in the Syrdarya region of Uzbekistan. The credit forms the basis of the Syrdarya Water Supply Project which aims to improve the availability, quality and sustainability of public water supply services in selected five districts of the region. It is expected that upon completion the Project will have improved water supply service delivery in the region, strengthened the capacity of water supply institutions, and enhanced the financial sustainability of water supply operations.
The Government of Uzbekistan (GOU) has assigned high priority to improving environmental and public health conditions associated with seriously deficient water supply services in most rural areas of the Syrdarya region. The project thus covers nearly half of the 700,000 inhabitants of the Syrdarya region.
Towns and villages in the project area are currently supplied through regional transmission schemes or from around 250 individual wells which have reached a state of acute disrepair, resulting in a a breakdown of piped water supply in many communities. It is estimated that 25% of the towns and villages in the project area receive no piped water and have to rely on water tankers. Out of those who have access to piped water, only about 10% receive 24-hour service; for all others service is unsafe and costly and consumers have to invest time and money in alternative supplies, including drawing raw water from irrigation canals.
“The Syrdarya Water Supply Project responds to the Government’s determination to upgrade access and quality of water supply and sanitation services in urban and rural areas” - says Takuya Kamata, World Bank’s Country Manager for Uzbekistan. “The project would finance a mix of rehabilitation of the existing infrastructure and replacement of obsolete systems that are beyond rehabilitation.”
There are four components in the project:
- The first component will improve water supply infrastructure by financing rehabilitation and limited expansion of water supply systems, including production, conveyance and distribution works.
- The second component aims at institutional strengthening and capacity building of regional and district levels of water supply organizations (vodokanals).
- The third component will assess the feasibility of needed sewerage investments in the Syrdarya Region. The resulting feasibility study will help mobilize donor support for wastewater infrastructure priorities in the region.
- The fourth component will support project management. This component will finance the Project Coordination Unit (PCU), including its branches in Syrdarya region.
Uzbekistan joined the World Bank in 1992. The World Bank’s mission in the country is to improve people’s livelihoods through being a partner in economic reforms, supporting the modernization of the country’s social sectors and infrastructure, and sharing its knowledge and experience with the government and the people of Uzbekistan.
World Bank active financing commitments as of August 2011 include 10 projects for a total of about $ US 630 million.
