Key urban centers in Sri Lanka’s Northern and Northwestern Provinces are utilizing Asian Development Bank (ADB) funds to upgrade neglected and overstretched water and sanitation systems.
ADB is providing a 32-year loan of $59.78 million and a grant of $23.22 million from the Asian Development Fund for the Dry Zone Urban Water and Sanitation Project which will rehabilitate and expand water and sanitation services in the towns of Chilaw, Mannar, Puttalam, and Vavuniya.
The Netherlands Trust Fund for the Water Financing Partnership Facility will provide a $2 million grant in cofinancing and the Government of Sri Lanka will extend the equivalent of $28.33 million for a total project cost of $113.33 million.
[...] The project will provide water supply to households for approximately 200,000 residents in these four towns and improve sanitation for around 100,000 people within the target areas by the time the project is completed in 2013.
The project will also help improve service delivery by decentralizing activities to the National Water Supply and Drainage Board regional offices. It will also seek to improve the capacity for planning and management of water resources, as well as to strengthen the capacity of local authorities to provide adequate services.
The project will also provide opportunities for members of the target communities to participate in the decision-making process and management of resources.
Source: ADB, 02 Dec 2008
