Abu Dhabi government has approved Dh83 million ($22.5 million) worth of preparatory works for Zone One of the Wathaba residential community project in the emirate, said a report.

Spread over a sprawling 42-million-sq-m area north of Wathaba, the project aims to provide 18,290 housing units besides 117 commercial buildings and 279 service facilities. It is considered one of the largest residential communities for citizens to be executed in the emirate, said the state news agency Wam.

The project aims to build urban areas that meet the needs of the community and provide a high quality of life, a key objective of the Abu Dhabi’s Plan, it stated, citing officials of Abu Dhabi Executive Council.

Also the council gave approval to the soil and preparatory works worth Dh75 million ($20.4 million) for the development of Zone Two north of Al Wathaba.

Among other projects to be given the go-ahead, the committee has approved Dh89 million ($24.2 million) for rehabilitation and replacement of wastewater lines in Abu Dhabi island, said the report.

The scope of work includes the establishment of new 12.2-km-long wastewater lines,  rehabilitation of 3.6-km-long lines, excavation of 1.5-km-long tunnels, maintenance of 1,500 manholes and CCTV monitoring over a 35-sq-km area.

In addition, the council gave the go-ahead for a plan to improve assets and establish wastewater lines in Abu Dhabi Island, Zone 3 at an investment of over Dh84 million ($22.8 million) besides a major road project linking Baynunah to the Sheikh Hazza bin Sultan I Road (Madinat Zayed-Ghayathi) in the Western Region.