To L. Samudra and other villagers in Kurunegala, in Sri Lanka's northwestern province, clean and potable water has always been a problem as far as they could remember.

 

"Clean drinking water is a luxury here in our village," Samudra said when chanced upon by Xinhua in his house in Kurunegala.

 

Recently, however, residents of Kurunegala expressed a sigh of relief after the start of the construction of the Greater Kurunegala Water Supply and Sewerage Project which is expected to provide villagers with clean and potable water.

 

Undertaken by the China Machinery Engineering Corporation (CMEC) , the project, which was started last year, has brought hope to thousands of local residents who have long been denied a basic necessity, that of clean drinking water.

 

The villagers said that with the availability of clean water, there would be an end to the spread of water-borne diseases such as diarrhea and chronic kidney ailments.

 

"It would be a big relief for us if the Chinese-funded project would be completed," Samudra said. "We are very grateful to China for this project."

 

During a recent conference on the drinking water issue here in the capital, Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena said that there are an estimated 40,000 kidney patients island-wide and every year at least 1,000 people die due to the illness.

 

According to local authorities, the major cause of kidney disease, which is currently spreading in the island nation, is the lack of clean drinking water.

 

Sirisena expressed his gratitude to the Chinese government for providing financial and technical assistance to Sri Lanka in community-related projects, including the improvement of water and sewerage systems in the country.

 

Chinese Ambassador to Sri Lanka Yi Xianliang, who was present at the conference, said that China has always supported Sri Lanka' s efforts to improve the quality of life of its people, particularly in providing them with safe drinking water, and other related projects.

 

In recent years, with the support of China's preferential and commercial loans, some Chinese companies have built multiple water supply projects in Sri Lanka, providing clean drinking water for a large number of Sri Lankans and playing an important role in preventing the spread of kidney ailments and other water-borne diseases in the country.

 

CMEC representative, Qian Haojun, said that CMEC signed the contract of the Greater Kurunegala Water Supply and Sewerage Project with Sri Lanka's National Water Supply and Drainage Board (NWSDB) in 2012. He added that the project is funded by preferential loans provided by the Export and Import Bank of China.

 

Qian said that the project has several components: the water supply engineering, the sewerage treatment engineering, an ancillary work covering a supply network, a sewerage pipeline network, a sewerage treatment plant,and a water treatment plant.

 

He said that the project is expected to be completed in three years.

 

The CMEC is also constructing the Gampaha Attanagalla Minuwangoda Integrated Water Supply Scheme in the north of capital Colombo. The construction of the project, which is also facilitated by Chinese funds, started last year. When completed, the project will provide clean drinking water to some 600,000 local residents in the area.

(Xinhua)