Project to upgrade north’s sewerage system

AN €18 MILLION European Union project to construct a sewerage network and waste water treatment plant started yesterday in the occupied part of Famagusta.

The treatment plant will be built together with a 65-kilometre network of sewers and seven pumping stations, a statement said. The project will serve around 30,000 people.

The plant will also be capable of handling tinkered septic material coming from outlying areas.

It will produce around 1.5 million cubic metres of water annually for irrigation purposes, the statement said.

Forty-five kilometres of water pipes will also be replaced, reducing leakage. On average in Famagusta, one litre out of three does not reach the tap.

The work will finish in November 2011. The project is funded under the €259 million aid programme for the Turkish Cypriot community which is managed by the European Commission.

Upgrading the infrastructure to EU standards is a major part of the programme, particularly in the area of water distribution and waste water collection and treatment.

Similar projects are being carried out in Morphou and Nicosia north.

They will help stop the degradation of aquifers by urban waste water discharges and strengthen conservation of water resources.

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