STORY: China-funded sewage plant benefits Dhaka residents
DATELINE: July 31, 2023
LENGTH: 00:02:17
LOCATION: Dhaka
CATEGORY: ECONOMY
 
SHOTLIST:
1. various of the Dasherkandi Sewage Treatment Plant (DSTP) project
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (Bengali): MD TAMIM BEPARI, Local resident
3. SOUNDBITE 2 (Bengali): ABDUS SAMAD, Local resident
4. SOUNDBITE 3 (Chinese): REN RUIKE, Project manager of Dasherkandi Sewage Treatment Plant
 
STORYLINE:
 
As the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, people in Dhaka, capital of Bangladesh are enjoying the benefits of a China-funded sewage plant built under the initiative.
 
SOUNDBITE 1 (Bengali): MD TAMIM BEPARI, Local resident
"Today we bathed here for about an hour. My friend came. We don't have any pool to bathe there (in Meradia). This is the only open place where we can find fresh water. We don't feel itchy in this water. It is fresh. (We) feel good. It is cool. We like swimming here."
 
SOUNDBITE 2 (Bengali): ABDUS SAMAD, Local resident
"I have been living here for many years and I'm 74 years old. In my early days in Dhaka city, there was good water. In our childhood, we lived here and drank water from the river as there was no tube well. Dhaka's water was spoiled with mindless garbage dumping. As Dhaka grew bigger, more people came and the water became polluted. Now this water is good again due to this Chinese project. I had a problem doing farming on my land here, but now I can raise fish. I run this boat to support my family."
 
Dhaka, the largest city in Bangladesh, has approximately 20 million residents. The growing population brought development, but also pollution.
 
To improve water quality and people's well-being, the Dasherkandi Sewage Treatment Plant (DSTP) project, a key project under the BRI, came into construction in 2017.
   
SOUNDBITE 3 (Chinese): REN RUIKE, Project manager of Dasherkandi Sewage Treatment Plant
"The plant is an important project jointly constructed by China and Bangladesh under the BRI. Its completion is very meaningful. It's the first modern large-scale sewage treatment plant in Bangladesh. It's also the largest monolithic sewage treatment plant in South Asia."
 
The plant provides sewage treatment services for approximately five million residents in the Dhaka city area, and it has treated over 150 million tonnes of sewage water since it began operation in March 2022.
 
Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Dhaka.
(XHTV)