Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- The World Bank Board of Directors approved on 4 August 2009 an International Development Association (IDA) credit for Bukhara and Samarkand Sewerage Project (BSSP) to mitigate the environmental impact from wastewater pollution and improve the efficiency and sustainability of wastewater management in Bukhara and Samarkand.The total amount of the Project is US$66.16 million, of which IDA will fund US$ 55 million.

“The Government of Uzbekistan and Bukhara and Samarkand district councils assigned high priority to improving environmental and public health conditions associated with inadequate sewerage and wastewater treatment in these two historic and tourism cities on the ancient Silk Road, which have populations of 300,000 (Bukhara) and 400,000 (Samarkand),” said Mr. Loup Brefort World Bank Country Manager for Uzbekistan. “Upon the request from the Government we agreed to support a sewerage project that would follow the already Bank-financed Bukhara and Samarkand Water Supply Project which is now being implemented.”

The project will rehabilitate selected sections of the sewerage system in the cities that have deteriorated, and will support some limited expansion of the sewerage system into currently unconnected central historical areas. It will also enable the installation of more energy-efficient equipment such as wastewater pumps and aeration systems at the wastewater treatment plants and pumping stations. In addition to these other aspects of the project, it will build the capacity of the water utilities (vodokanals) in the areas of management, communications, and public outreach.

The Project builds upon the Bukhara and Samarkand Water Supply Project and incorporates the experience from the World Bank-financed Rural Water Supply, Sanitation and Health Project (closed in 2008). It will also draw on recommendations in the World Bank’s 2007 Municipal Services Sector Review Note.

Uzkomunkhizmat will take overall responsibility for the project’s implementation, while Bukhara and Samarkand water utilities (Vodocanals) will implement their respective components with assistance from the PCU established within Uzkommunkhizmat.

Uzbekistan joined the World Bank in 1992. The World Bank’s mission in the country is to improve people’s livelihoods through being a partner in economic reforms, supporting the modernization of the country’s social sectors and infrastructure, and sharing its knowledge and experience with the government and the people of Uzbekistan.

Total World Bank commitments to Uzbekistan amount to more than US$750 million.