With the start of impoundment this year behind China's Three Gorges Dam, the city of Wuhan will be sheltered from floods that periodically menace the population. The capital of Hubei Province's other main concern regarding the Yangtze River, pollution, is also receding, as the city embarks on a major programme of investment in wastewater treatment. Aimed for completion within five years, the current wastewater project, together with others in hand or planned, will allow Wuhan to treat 56% of its wastewater by 2008. All this work will be part of the Wuhan Urban Wastewater Management Master Plan, which aims to increase the wastewater the treatment rate in and around the Hubei provincial capital to about 70% of output by 2010. Having signed terms of a new loan with the Asian Development Bank, the Chinese are now gearing up to start procurement of wastewater facilities in three areas in and around Wuhan. Loan negotiations in Manila ended this March, and further procedures must run their course before the loan becomes effective, says an official at Wuhan Project Management Office (WPMO), which is running the scheme.
展开▼
