ADB grant for Monduli water project

The African Development Bank (ADB) and the government of Tanzania signed an agreement on Tuesday for a US $22.98-million grant to finance a water supply project in the northeastern district of Monduli. "It [the project] will help improve rural water supply for domestic and livestock consumption, enhance community awareness of the need for better sanitation and improve overall natural resources management in an arid area," the ADB reported from its headquarters in Tunis, Tunisia. The bank said the project would also lead to a reduction of water-related poverty in the selected areas of the district. The ADB official in charge of north, east and south operations and the private sector, Theodore Nkodo, signed the agreement on behalf of the bank while the Tanzanian ambassador in Egypt, Kassim Mwawado, represented the Tanzanian government. The board of directors of the African Development Fund, the lending arm of the ADB, approved the Monduli project on 27 November 2003. When complete, the project would provide water supply infrastructure consisting of water source, intake works, treatment, transmission and distribution, the ADB reported. Under the project, seven existing surface water storage facilities would be rehabilitated in four villages and eight new ones constructed in eight villages. Work on groundwater sources will include protection of eight springs in seven villages and the drilling and development of 18 boreholes for six of the villages in different locations, the ADB said. It added that the project area comprises 18 villages and two urban settlements including the district administrative centre of Monduli and Namanga. Monduli District has 73 villages but the targeted ones are spread over Manyara, Kisongo and Longido divisions, which have a combined population of about 72,000. "Tanzania has made good progress in the implementation of its programme of economic and social reforms, which is anchored on the poverty reduction strategy of the country," Nkodo said during the signing of the agreement.