The following projects were approved today by the World Bank's Board. The project also provides for highway maintenance and training for traffic safety workers. It supports appropriate soil reclamation technology, remodeling and maintenance of main drains in the district, upgrading rural roads, and strengthening of key institutions involved in sodic land reclamation.
Sodic soils are salt affected lands dominated by the electro-chemical bonding of sodium on to clay.
This project will strengthen infrastructure, facilitate private sector participation, and upgrade basic urban services in towns so that the Government's objective of ensuring that at least 90 percent of the urban populations have access to a safe and reliable water supply can be achieved within a reasonable period of time. The program will assist local government unit-managed water utilities to operate on commercial principles, and thereby provide consumers with sustainable water and sanitation services in about 250 secondary towns and cities in the Philippines. The program will generate incentives for the private sector to participate in utility management, lower production costs, and increase responsiveness to consumers.