Aussie project inaugurated

JAKARTA (JP): The Australian foreign affairs minister, Alexander Downer, has inaugurated a A$25 million sanitation and water supply project in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara.

The project, which has been managed by the Australian Agency for International Development since 1991, was inaugurated Friday.

A statement from the Australian Embassy stated the project would provide clean water to 900,000 people in Lombok and Sumbawa, as well as improve public sanitation.

The embassy said the project would benefit over 20 percent of households in the province.

Almost 9,000 wells had been dug, 94,000 toilets installed, 19 new water pipe systems constructed, and six other systems rehabilitated or augmented, it said.

The project also has funded 397 training courses, 185 in community activities and 163 in institutional training. Over 13,000 people attended the courses. (das)