Announcement of World Bank Support of Urban Development Projects in Burkina Faso and Zambia on May 24, 1995

O R I The World Bank 1818 H Street NW, Washington, DC 20433, USA IDA News Release No. 95/66/AFR Contacts: Eric Chinje (202)473-4467 (Internet: Echinje@worldbank.org) Sheela Reddi (202)473-5091 (Internet: Sreddi@worldbank.org) IDA FINANCES URBAN DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS IN BURKINA FASO AND ZAMBIA WASHINGTON, May 24, 1995- The International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank's concessionary lending arm, yesterday approved a $37 million credit to the Government of Burkina Faso and a $33 million credit to the Government of Zambia to help finance projects aimed at improving the quality of life in their urban communities. Burkina Faso Urban Environment Project The $49.7 million Burkina Faso Urban Environment Project will target one million people living with inadequate roads, drainage, sanitation, and waste management in the country's two main cities, Ouagadougou and Bobo-Dioulasso. The project will lay the groundwork for decentralizing management of the overall urban environment to the local governments in these cities with a view to improving urban living conditions (especially for low-income groups), promoting the urban population's active participation in services development, and promoting service sustainability. Eighty percent of the project costs are earmarked for restoration of primary infrastructure networks. This component will improve the living conditions in Ouagadougou and Bobo- Dioulasso by financing civil works and consultant services for primary infrastructure investments, as well as urban services development. Four primary areas will be targeted: * Drainage. Because of the importance of flood control, considerable project funds will go to the construction of two drainage basins in Ouagadougou and one in Bobo-Dioulasso's Houet gully. * Primary urban road network. Road rehabilitation works will provide durable running surfaces, with one mile of paved roads and nine miles of earth roads in the capital city, and two miles of paved and three miles of earth roads in Bobo-Dioulasso. * Piped sewerage and on-site sanitation. In order to improve human waste management, the project will encourage small entrepreneurs to undertake the construction of individual latrines, the preparation of training materials Burkina Faso Zambia I of 3 ArchivesfRecords Center, H B1-OO1 ( 1) to build capacity in on-site system construction and rehabilitation, the construction of school amenities, and the design and construction of wastewater treatment ponds. * Waste management. The project also calls for the closing of unsafe dump sites, restoration and upgrading of sanitary landfills, new solid waste transfer stations and landfills, environmental impact studies, pollution monitoring activities, and a public awareness program. Neighborhood-specific actions will be supported by community participation programs, including demonstration projects. Sub-components will be supported by an awareness campaign targeting the users. The remaining 20 percent of project funds are designated for capacity building to support urban policy and provide a basis for the decentralization process to be implemented. This component addresses five main areas: * strengthening the central government's competence for urban management; * improving the institutional, legal, and regulatory framework for urban management at the national and local levels; * providing technical assistance and training, as well as a monitoring program; * enhancing community participation practices through the implementation of demonstration projects; and * supporting increased housing loans. Zambia Urban Restructuring and Water Supply Project At Independence, Zambia inherited, and initially was able to maintain, core urban infrastructure built to high standards. As the country's economy deteriorated, however, maintenance of this infrastructure was delayed to the point where many urban water and sewerage systems are now on the verge of collapse. This decline in urban services has adversely affected all sectors, including the investment in and development of the private sector, which is essential to the growth of the economy. Throughout the country, individuals and firms are increasingly forced to bear the costs of providing their own water supply, sanitation, and other infrastructure, thus losing opportunities for growth and prosperity. The deterioration of these services has had the greatest impact on the 40 percent of city dwellers living in poverty who have little or no access to potable water, sanitary means of solid and human waste disposal, and basic health services. Existing supplies are directed to higher- income consumers who do not pay the full cost of the services, while lower-income residents in informal settlements appear to pay excessively high prices for informal access to low-quality water. The $46.6 million Urban Restructuring and Water Supply Project will address these critical water and sanitation issues, and begin reorienting and restructuring infrastructure and Burkina Faso,'Zanbia 2 of 3 service provision. The project will use water supply as an entry point for developing future investment programs in formal settlement areas and developing new and innovative institutional options in peri-urban, unserviced areas. Both activities focus on a demand-based approach and seek to break the persistent cycle of non-payment and inadequate services. The project includes three components: * Water supply and sanitation system rehabilitation. Water treatment facilities will be restored to design capacity, ensuring a supply of potable water to more than 1.5 million people in nine urban centers. * Community-based water and sanitation demonstration projects in seven pei-urban communities around Lusaka and the Copperbelt will extend water supply to at least 250,000 low-income residents. The projects will develop sustainable water and sanitation systems while testing institutional mechanisms and linkages within and between local councils and participating communities. * Sectoral and local government reform and capacity building. This component will affect more than 3.5 million people--over 80 percent of Zambia's current urban population. It will include assessments of water system management options as well as water sector policy studies designed to integrate urban water management into national and regional strategies. To promote sustainable locally-managed urban development, it will also help build local councils' capacity for planning, financial management, and infrastructure operation and maintenance. The credits to Burkina Faso and Zambia are made on standard IDA terms with 40 years' maturity. Burkina FasolZambia 3 of 3