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afrol News, 5 September - The Harar water supply and sanitation project in one of the driest part of Ethiopia yesterday found a US$ 28 million financing. Local water supply has virtually collapsed after decades of poor maintenance and high population growth. The African Development Fund (ADF) yesterday announced it had approved a loan totalling US$ 27.78 million to finance the Harar water supply and sanitation project in north-eastern Ethiopia. Harar is located in a mountainous zone on the highway between Addis Ababa and Somaliland's capital Hargeisa. Harar has experienced a boom since Somaliland has become the main sea outlet for now landlocked Ethiopia. According to the ADF, the objective of the Harar water project is to provide a better access to water supply and sanitation services to the population of the city and nearby Alemaya, Awudai, Adele and Dengego "through improved water production, distribution and sanitation." To this end, the project was to involve the "rehabilitation and extension of water supply and sanitation systems in high-density low-income areas." It was also to "entail the improvement of solid waste management system as well as institutional capacity building for management of water supply and sewerage services," the Fund says. The project would also implement a public education campaign on water, health and HIV/Aids. Furthermore, the project was to contribute to poverty reduction "through the improvement of the population health in order to stimulate economic growth." By providing water in quantity, reliability, accessibility, quality and affordable cost, the project was to reduce the time spent to collect water as well as the incidence of water-borne and water-washed diseases and the cost of their treatment. The drainage works would further reduce flooding, incidence of malaria and protect agricultural and residential land from erosion. Finally, the project would "help improve the prospects for economic development by attracting industrial and commercial activities to the area and through the creation of employment."
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