Kampala — THE Government is to construct water supply and sanitation schemes in 17 districts in the region. The project will be funded by a 18.5m euros grant from the Federal Republic of Austria and the European Union, the organisation said in a bid notice.

"Many towns applied for water, but when we did our analysis, only 75 qualified," said Herbert Nuwamanya, the south-western Sanitation Development Facility manager.

He said 14 towns had already been connected to piped-water, while plans to connect other 14 towns were underway.

Those that have already benefited from the organisation's funding include Rushere and Ibanda.

"We could not take on all the 75 towns at once. We began with 14 towns and we are now working on other 14 towns.

"We shall continue to take on a few until all the 75 towns are connected with safe water," he said.

Kagashe in Rukungiri district will be the next town to be connected.

"We have already advertised inviting bidders to apply for the works. The procurement process normally takes two months. Construction of Kagashe Town Water supply and sanitation scheme will start in about two months," Nuwamanya said in a telephone interview yesterday.

He added that the project would involve the construction of a 2.85km of transmission pipeline, supply and construction of 18.5km distribution and services lines. It will also involve the building of 160m3 reinforced concrete reservoir and borehole site works.