DUSHANBE, November 5, 2012, Asia-Plus — The residents of Farkhor and Vose townships in Khatlon province will now benefit from improved access to clean water and high quality utility services as a result of the World Bank’s Tajikistan Municipal Infrastructure Development Project (MIDP), press release issued by the World bank Country Office in Dushanbe said.
The additional financing of US$ 11.85 million will expand the project into these two townships and demonstrate a new approach to fund municipal services. The project since 2006 has successfully implemented municipal infrastructure investments in Qurghon Teppa, Kulob, Danghara, Istaravshan, Gharm, Konibodom, and Vahdat.
The goal of the Municipal Infrastructure Development Project is to improve the availability, quality, and efficiency of delivery of basic municipal services to the population, including water, sanitation, and solid waste management. The additional financing approved by the World Bank for this project this year will allow expanding investment in the water and sanitation sector and solid waste management, and focus on the institutional strengthening to ensure long-term improvements in the quality of people’s lives. The project will allow for piloting of a number of initiatives, including the Household Connection Subsidy program for small towns to improve equity of access to water supply, and piloting of modern billing and collection technology.
To mark the launch of the project, a workshop in Farkhor on November 2 brought together the representatives of the State Unitary Enterprise “Khojagiyi Manziliyu Kommunali” (SUE “KMK”) responsible for implementation of the MIDP, the World Bank, local administrations of target districts, local civil society organizations, and community members.
As discussed during the workshop, the MIDP goes beyond rehabilitation of water supply, sanitation and solid waste services. Through this project several new pilot measures will be undertaken, such as the Household Connection Subsidy Program to ensure access of vulnerable households to the water network and modern billing and collection systems in order to prevent water losses through wastage and to have a more equitable application of tariff collection based on consumption.
The World Bank is committed to improving the operational and financial sustainability of the utilities sector in Tajikistan. One of the project components aims at strengthening the capacity of the State Unitary Enterprise “Khojagiyi Manziliyu Kommunali” (SUE “KMK”) and supporting the implementation of the “Concept for Housing and Communal Services Reform 2010-2020.” The additional grant will assist the Government in identifying financing mechanism options to support the development of the water and sanitation sector, and attract and leverage donor contributions.
The original MIDP, launched in 2006, has successfully implemented municipal infrastructure investments in eight participating cities and districts: Qurghon Teppa; Kulob, Danghara, Istaravshan, Gharm, Vose, Konibodom, and Vahdat, through: 1) financing the rehabilitation and repair of infrastructure and installations and the replacement of equipment at local branches of the SUE “KMK”; and 2) assisting the SUE “KMK” and its local branches in improving the management of basic municipal services delivery.
Approximately 200,000 people benefited from the project so far through improved access to clean water. The number of people with access to at least 16 hours of water supply a day almost doubled. The percentage of people with improved and regular solid waste collection services increased on average from 30 percent to 80 percent. The activities of the project under the additional financing will continue in Dangara, Kulob and Qurghon Teppa, in addition to Vose and Farkhor.
The active portfolio of the World Bank in Tajikistan currently consists of 14 projects with a net commitment of US$ 236 million. The largest share of the portfolio is in agriculture and rural development (27 percent), followed by energy (24 percent), water supply and sanitation (18 percent), human development – education, health and social protection (24 percent), the private sector (4 percent) and the public sector (2 percent).
