RAWALPINDI, June 29: A programme for provision of potable water and improving the sewerage system in all cities of the province is being implemented to improve the quality of urban life , Punjab chief minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Illahi said.

He was speaking at a meeting held to discuss sanitation and sewerage system in the province here on Tuesday. The chief minister said the project for improving the water supply and sanitation facilities was being undertaken with the assistance of international organizations, which were extending "all out support and cooperation" to the provincial government.

Some of the major projects for upgradation of water supply and sanitation included in the province's Annual Development Programme for 2004-05 are Rawalpindi Environment Improvement Project, Punjab Community Water Supply and Sanitation Project and Improvement of Environment and Sanitation for Water Supply in Faisalabad.

In Punjab, 50 per cent of the urban population has access to potable water, whereas 55 per cent of the people living in cities have sanitation facility. The chief minister said sewerage systems in various cities of the province had outlived their utility, resulting in environmental pollution and health problems.

He said treatment plants would be installed in major cities. The Punjab government, he said, was expecting support from the private sector for improvement of urban services.

The provincial government had recently unveiled a programme for public-private partnership for development of infrastructure in Punjab. Mr Illahi said the private sector would be encouraged to enter into joint venture with the provincial government in this regard. He said a pilot project under public-private partnership was being initiated shortly.