ADB urges investment in water resources
MANILA. June 23. KAZINFORM Governments in Asia and the Pacific must continue to invest in water infrastructure in spite of the economic crisis or face fundamental threats to their economic growth and social development, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said Tuesday; Kazinform cites China View.
In a press release, ADB President Haruhiko Kuroda said stagnant investments in the water and wastewater management sector may compromise the energy and food security, as well as the economies and environment, creating a significant new threat to both poverty reduction and economic growth.
About 635 million people in the Asia-Pacific region did not have access to safe drinking water in 2004, the ADB said, and 1.86billion people currently do not have access to adequate sanitation. Additionally, the region's recent strong economic growth, population pressures, and increased urbanization have combined to sharply increase water use, while pollution and climate change pose further threats to the precious resource.
The development lender said its Water Financing Program 2006-2010 seeks to double investments in rural and urban water services and basin water management to well over 2 billion U.S. dollars annually. Projects approved to date under the program will provide more than 95.5 million people access to safe drinking water and improved sanitation; Kazinform cites China View.
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