The construction of the 449 million U.S. dollars Kafulafuta Water Supply System Project by China National Complete Engineering Corporation is 55 percent complete, an official with Zambia's Ministry of Water and Sanitation Development said Wednesday.
The ministry's public relations officer Amos Zulu said in a statement that the project is aimed at improving water supply in Ndola, Luanshya, Mpongwe and Masaiti districts, targeting nearly 700,000 beneficiaries, and 160,000 cubic meters of water will be extracted from the 125 million cubic meter dam every day to supply the four towns.
Zulu said once complete, the project will increase water supply hours from an average of 18 hours to 24 hours per day, reduce water losses from the current 64 percent to 35 percent through replacement of old infrastructure, increase Kafubu Water Supply and Sanitation Company's customer base from 504,000 to 678,800 and improve the utility's revenue base.
Construction of the project commenced in September last year, and is expected to be completed by 2020.
