DUSHANBE
, January 20, Asia-Plus — On Thursday January 19, the World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors approved the Municipal Infrastructure Development Project for
Tajikistan
.
According to information from the World Bank Dushanbe Office, this project aims to help the Government provide accessible, reliable and good quality basic municipal services for the population of the eight participating cities. Ensuring access to basic municipal services is an important factor in supporting the growth of local economies and reducing poverty.
At present access to basic municipal services, including drinking water supply, solid waste disposal, and wastewater treatment, in
Tajikistan
is often intermittent, if available at all. Service failures create serious public health risks and carry high economic costs for the population. The Municipal Infrastructure Development Project will therefore provide an opportunity to broaden access and improve the quality of municipal services in the selected towns of the country, thus increasing the quality of life of their populations.
The cities to be served by the project include Danghara, Istaravshan, Konibodom, Kulob, Qurghon Teppa,
Rasht
, Vahdat and Vose.
The Municipal Infrastructure Development Project includes three components: 1) financing the rehabilitation and repair of facilities and installations and the replacement of equipment needed for delivery of basic municipal services; 2) supporting additional engineering studies that are necessary to define the needed investments and strengthen the institutional capacity of the State Unitary Enterprise of Housing and Communal Services and 3) providing implementation and project management support to the project implementing agency. The key institution, which will be responsible for the overall management and implementation of the project, is the State Unitary Enterprise of Housing and Communal Services.
The project implementation period is five years, commencing in March 2006. It is expected that as a result of the project, access to water supply systems will improve, the frequency of solid waste disposal will increase, the efficiency of basic municipal services in the eight cities will improve, and a higher level of customer satisfaction with the delivery of municipal services will be ensured.
Since 1993, when
Tajikistan
joined the World Bank, commitments to the country total approximately US$390 million for projects approved on both a lending and grant basis. At the moment, the active portfolio of Bank-supported projects consists of 11 investment operations for a total commitment of US$148 million, of which about 35% has been disbursed.
