Japan-sponsored project may be canceled

DENPASAR, Bali: A waste water treatment project in Sawung to be financed by a Rp 400 million grant from the Japanese government is expected to be canceled due to protests from local residents.

"We cannot go on with the project because many of the local residents around the site have voiced their opposition to the planned project," the head of the provincial planning agency, Sujana Cahyana, said here on Tuesday.

Sujana said the residents did not fully understood the importance of the high-tech project, which is aimed at helping them treat the waste water from their homes without contaminating their surroundings.

In response to the protests, Sujana said his office had dispatched a team to increase the people's awareness of the importance of waste water treatment.

The World Bank has set an Aug. 31 deadline for the start of the construction project. -- Antara