DUSHANBE, July 5, 2011, Asia-Plus — Taking into account the successful completion of the First Dushanbe Water Supply Project under financial support of the World Bank, the sides have expressed readiness to continue cooperation to implement the second phase of the project, Shavkat Saidov, a spokesman for the Dushanbe mayor’s office, said.
According to him, the World Bank Country Office in Tajikistan recently sent a letter to Dushanbe Mayor Mahmadsaid Ubaidulloyev, noting that the World Bank Board of Directors has approved financing of the Second Dushanbe Water Supply Project and decided to provide a US$16 million grant for this project. Contribution of the Dushanbe mayor’s office to implementation of the project will amount to US$3 million.
“The project provides for installation of 76,500 residential water meters, which is 47 percent of Dushanbe’s municipal waterworks (Dushanbe Vodokanal or DVK) users,” the spokesman said.
According to information posted on World Bank’s website, the objective of the Second Dushanbe Water Supply Project for Tajikistan is to improve water utility performance and water supply services in selected areas of Dushanbe. There are four components to the project, the first component being metering and demand management. The component will finance consumption metering and bulk metering of water, for increased revenue, reduced wastage, and better tracking of losses, including: 1) supply and installation of 76,500 residential meters (i.e. approximately 46 percent of DVK users and installation of 1,500 apartment building master meters in selected areas of the city; 2) rehabilitation of 1,500 apartment building service connections; 3) supply and installation of bulk flow meters at water production facilities; 4) supply and installation of a Network Information System (NIS); 5) communication strategy and public awareness campaigns to promote metering and demand management; and 6) installation of Supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system. The second component is the water quality improvement. The components will support system upgrades for improved quality of water, including network cleaning. The third component is the institutional strengthening and capacity building. The component will finance activities to build institutional capacity and improve utility performance of DVK, which includes: carrying out an assessment of DVK”s organizational and capacity-building needs; and installation of modern accounting, billing and water revenue collection systems. Finally, the fourth component is the implementation support.
