In response to a request from the Chitungwiza Municipality, the African Development Bank (AfDB), acting in their capacity as Trustee of the African Water Facility (AWF), has approved grant funding from the Facility to support the rehabilitation of water supply and sanitation infrastructure and services in Chitungwiza Municipality, the second largest community in Zimbabwe and a hot spot for cholera epidemics, to address the many challenges facing the Municipality in the water sector caused by the deterioration of the installations.
The grant agreement was signed on Monday 22 February 2010 in Chitungwiza with the participation of key stakeholders in order to kick start project implementation. The project launching process has started this week.
The project, which is conceived within the framework of the Short-Term Emergency Recovery Plan (STERP) of the Government of National Unity, aims to improve the provision of water and sanitation services.
The proposed project aims at stabilizing the deterioration in the provision of water and sanitation services in the municipality, and enhancing institutional capacity for efficient and sustainable operation and management of the water supply and sanitation services. The project will therefore undertake urgent repairs and limited capacity expansion to ensure equitable and improved distribution of water supply, equip the municipality with adequate capacity to evacuate wastewater. These actions will improve service reliability and help reduce the occurrence and incidence of cholera.
The project launch will orient the Municipality of Chitungwiza and the key stakeholders on the rules of the African Development Bank and the African Water Facility, and bring all project actors to the same level of understanding of the project objectives, expected results and technical as well as financial management requirements. Also the project team will be acquainted with procurement, disbursement and financial management procedures as they relate to project implementation.
Contacts
Eloi Yao
