World Bank Helps Hainan Build Water ProjectsThe southern province of Hainan has been successful in using World Bank loans to build water supply facilities in its impoverished rural areas in recent years.To date, six water supply projects loaned by the World Bank are under construction, and the primary designing and public bidding for another seven have been completed. Hainan is one of the four provinces in the country selected to carry out the water supply and sanitation program in rural areas. This program, initiated by the World Bank, is aimed at solving drinking water for people in impoverished areas. The program in Hainan was started in 1999. The World Bank offered 10 million U.S. dollars and the local government allocated a complementary fund of the same sum for 158 planned water supply projects and 143 sub-projects, which are expected to be completed in the province's six poverty-stricken counties in five years. Sanitation projects, health education and personnel training will also be carried out simultaneously with the water supply projects. It is learned that designing of another 22 water plants under the 2001 plan is going on smoothly and is expected to be finished by the end of the year. Upon completion, all these water works can supply drinking water for 242,000 people. |
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