Interfax
November 25

The Uzbek government has approved a program for 2004-09 aimed at improving drinking water supplies to the Bukhara and Kashkadarya regions in the country's southwest, a Cabinet source told Interfax.

The overall cost of the program is estimated at $218.8 million.

The five-year project involves repairing water intake facilities and pumping stations, as well as building new water purification facilities with a total capacity of 568,000 cubic meters a day. The program also envisions the construction of 258.8 kilometers of centralized water supply systems carrying water to 275 villages.

A total of $184.5 million in foreign credits will be provided for the program, and another $34.3 million will be contributed by Uzbekistan.

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