OUAGADOUGOU, Nov. 5 (Xinhua) -- The eight-member Economic and Monetary Union of West Africa (UEMOA) plans a multi-million dollar program to improve water supply to countries in the region, the bloc announced here on Wednesday.

    Water directors of UEMOA are evaluating a village hydraulic program of 25 billion FCFA (50 million U.S. dollars) to drill 3,000 boreholes and supply motor pumps in five member countries. Details are being considered for three other members.

    UEMOA Water and Environment Director Malick Diallo said the program had been worked out for five countries, including Burkina Faso, Benin, Mali, Niger and Togo, while the plan has yet to complete for Cote d'Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau and Senegal.

    "In Burkina Faso, we have drilled 302 boreholes and equipped them with 300 pump engines which mean that we have done 100 percent," Diallo acclaimed.

    The program does not only aim to provide drinking water to the populations, but to create income generating activities for sustainable development, according to the official.

    Diallo linked the program to the achievement of the UN poverty-reduction Millennium Development Goals, saying up to 40,000 water points are being created within UEMOA.