$15m for rural sanitation in Budget

By ANGELA GREGORY

The Government will spend $15 million a year to subsidise new or upgraded sewerage treatment schemes for rural communities and the fluoridation of water supplies where wanted.

The move has been welcomed in areas such as the Far North where small to medium-sized communities cannot afford expensive sewerage schemes required to meet environmental and health standards.

The first funding will become available in the 2003-04 financial year and is guaranteed for three years.

The Ministry of Health expects the funding to carry on past then as needed.

The subsidy will be available to communities with populations of between 100 and 10,000 people.

Health Minister Annette King said the priority would be given to communities with high measured rates of water-borne disease, significant health inequalities and a limited ability to fund their own scheme.

Far North District Council chief executive Clive Manly expected sewerage schemes at Russell and Kerikeri would be among those to benefit from the funding.

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