(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-11-27 13:44

KATHMANDU -- Japan and the Netherlands, in partnership with Asian Development Bank (ADB), are helping to prepare a project design to develop the water supply and sanitation sector in small towns in Nepal, The Himalayan Times reported on Tuesday.

According to the daily, the project is aimed at bringing the country closer to achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for environmental sustainability.

The preparation of the Improved Water Quality, Sanitation and Service Delivery in Emerging Towns Sector Development Program is estimated to cost 848,000 U.S. dollars.

The Netherlands, through the Water Financing Partnership Facility, is extending a 120,000-dollar grant, while the Japan Special Fund is providing a 600,000-dollar grant for the project.

The funds will be managed by ADB. The balance amount of 128,000 dollars of the program cost will be covered by Nepal.

ADB created Water Financing Partnership Facility in 2006 to mobilize co-financing and investments from development partners for water sector of developing countries.

"Nepal has abundant water resources, but population and development pressures, competing uses and in some cases, poor water resource management, have compromised quantity, quality and access to clean water and sanitation," said Tatiana Gallego-Lizon, urban development specialist of ADB's South Asia Department.

While efforts by the government have raised living standards, Nepal remains one of the poorest countries in Asia, with human development indicators among the lowest in the world.

The country is fully committed to achieving the United Nations' MDGs, which calls for, among others, halving the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and improved sanitation by 2015, according to the daily.