AMN/ WEB DESK
The Government of Bangladesh signed two separate agreements with Asian Development Bank (ADB) for loans worth USD 292 million on Tuesday. The agreements were signed in Dhaka between Fatima Yasmin, Secretary, Economic Relations Division, and Edimon Ginting, Country Director, ADB.
The first loan worth USD 157 million is being provided to mitigate flood and riverbank erosion risks, strengthen climate resilience through structural and nonstructural interventions, and promote knowledge-based solutions along the Jamuna, Padma, and Ganges rivers in central Bangladesh. It is part of the second tranche of the Flood and Riverbank Erosion Risk Management Investment Program (FRERMIP) approved in 2014.
Additionally, the Government of the Netherlands will provide USD 17.89 million in technical assistance grant, to be administered by ADB, to help finance the second tranche of the program, and promote innovations, and capacity building.
Country Director ADB Edimon Ginting said that the programme supports the Government’s road map for long term stabilisation of the river system in central Bangladesh through implementation of holistic planning strategies.
The ADB also approved an additional loan of USD 135 million to improve access to and quality of inclusive water supply services. It will help to promote environmentally sustainable surface water supply in Dhaka. The loan will finance new schemes including a surface water intake, raw water transmission line, a water treatment plant, treated water transmission line, and primary and secondary distribution lines.