The Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Tajikistan and ‘Good Neighbors’, a humanitarian NGO from Korea, have successfully completed the project of ‘Improvement of Access to the Safe Drinking Water’, for more than 6,000 residents of the Nosiri-Khusrav district in the Khatlon province. The KOICA (Korea International Cooperation Agency) have provided the grant aid of 200,000 U.S. dollars for the project.
The project reportedly started on the basis of a request of 10,000 residents of the Firuza jamoat, Nosiri-Khusrav district with a request for help in setting up a water supply system, since residents had to buy and bring drinking water from other remote villages. Also in this territory part of the plant areas remained without irrigation, and a high level of infectious diseases was recorded due to the use of unclean water.
In order to implement the project, ‘Good Neighbors’ reportedly conducted a number of researches in April 2017. Thereafter, the organization cleaned one water borehole, set up 3 water towers, and installed 22 km long water pipes for connecting more than 140 water distribution points in the 6 villages on the Nosiri-Khusrav district. In addition, special water committees have been created from among the chairmen and activists of local communities, with the aim of efficient and careful exploitation of the water supply system.
With the completion of the project, more than 6,000 residences including 3,000 children will have the benefit of improving their living standards. In the past, many families suffered from lack of access to clean drinking water. They had to use water from nearby channels for drinking and domestic use, which was dangerous to their health. Moreover, mostly women and children had to carry water home from remote sources.
The closing ceremony of the project is being held on December 5, 2017 with participation of Charge d’Affairs of the Republic of Korea in the Republic of Tajikistan, Mr. Woochul Lee, the Director of Good Neighbors Organization in Tajikistan Lee Byung Chan, representatives of the administration of the Nosiri-Khusrav district, the chairmen of the Firuza Jamoat communities and local residents.
In 2016, the Embassy of the Republic of Korea and ‘Good Neighbors’ implemented the same project in the Khokak and Beshkappa jamoats of the Shahritous district, Khatlon province.
11,000 residents of the district reportedly benefited from the project for which the KOICA provided grant aid of 100,000 U.S. dollars. Also, at the same time, Good Neighbors Organization provided access to safe drinking water to 9,000 beneficiary residents of the Navruz jamoat in the Nosiri-Khusrav district with financial aid in the amount of 138,568 U.S. dollars.
