US $60,000 for water project

Some 16 villages north of Senegal's capital, Dakar, are now receiving drinking water under a US-$60,000 project funded by the Japanese government and inaugurated on 17 October, an official of the Japanese embassy in Dakar told IRIN on Wednesday. Under the project, pumps and fountains were installed in the villages, located in the Louga area, thus enabling them to receive water from a dam located in the area. The funds came from a non-refundable aid package for rural development projects in the education, health and water supply sectors, the source said. The package was created in 1990. This year Japan, through its embassy, has also financed education and health projects, mainly by providing equipment and supplies and refurbishing existing infrastructure, the source added.