Mandalay Pyigyitagon Water Supply Development Project with the purification of Dotthawadi river, jointly implemented by the Netherlands and Mandalay City Development Committee (MCDC), will commence only in early 2021, said U Saw Han, a member of MCDC. It is hard to carry out the project during the coronavirus crisis. The officials are also still negotiating it. The precautionary restriction measures and crowd restriction caused the project to suspend, he added. This project was initiated with the assistance of JICA grant in 2018 and covered five wards in Pyigyitagon Township. The remaining 13 communities will get water supply from Dotthawadi river water purification scheme.
The project will begin only in early 2021 due to the COVID-19 impacts, he stated. The project can cover 70 per cent of Pyigyitagon Township, with the Dutch grant of 29.96 million Euro and 29.96 million Euro loan from the Netherlands banks — FMO and ING, with the total project cost of 59.92 million Euro. In this project, construction of water treatment plant, pumping station, water storage lake, service water pipelines, household water connections, development of district meter area zone to reduce the water loss, and installation of water meter in Pyigyitagon Township are included. Under the project development, residents in 70 per cent of the Pyigyitagon town area will receive good and clean water.
The Netherlands and Myanmar signed the grant agreement for Pyigyitagon Water Supply Development Project on 9 June 2020 in the ways of the virtual signing event. Mr Huub Buise, Deputy Ambassador, Mr Astrid Raaphorst, Director of NL Process and Legal Affair, the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO), Daw Si Si Pyone, Director General, Treasury Department under the Ministry of Planning, Finance and Industry and Dr Ye Lwin, Mayor of the Mandalay City signed the grant agreement, according to the Netherlands Embassy to Myanmar.
Source: The Global New Light of Myanmar