ADB lends $220mln to build hazard-resilient infrastructure

KARACHI: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved $220 million to Pakistan to help it rebuild and upgrade roads, bridges and other high-priority infrastructure damaged by the devastating 2014 floods, the bank said on Tuesday.
“Pakistan is highly dependent on agriculture and prone to floods and other extreme weather related-events like the current severe heat wave, and these will worsen as a result of climate change,” said ADB’s Donneth Walton, Principal Natural Resources and Agriculture Specialist in Central and West Asia Department.
“This assistance will support a build-back-better approach, with multi-hazard-resistant features incorporated into the restored infrastructure.”
The floods last year in displaced over 2.5 million people across 44 districts, and damaged more than 445,000 hectares of agricultural land, causing severe hardship to about a quarter of a million farmers.
A flood assessment report estimated recovery needs at around $440 million, including $56 million for building resilience of the affected population and their productive assets.
The bank statement said the ADB loan will be used to rebuild important infrastructure in the worst-hit areas of Punjab Province and the districts of Haveli, Kotli and Poonch. The restored infrastructure will be built to withstand future extreme weather events.
“A $2 million technical assistance grant will be extended to increase the capacity of disaster oversight agencies to plan for and handle future disasters,” it added.
“ADB’s assistance will complement relief efforts by other development partners. It will also allow the government to redirect its finances to housing and livelihood cash grants for vulnerable groups, which will help restore economic activity in affected areas.” The project will be carried out over three years with an expected completion date of June 2018.
Last month the bank had committed over $5 billion in the ongoing operational funding to develop Pakistan’s energy security, transportation infrastructure, irrigation networks, urban services, social protection services and reforms.
Among the projects to be financed by the ADB is a 660-megawatt coal-fired power plant in southern Pakistan, while funds will also be allocated for projects related to health, education and highway construction.
Along with the 660-megawatt plant, the funds will be used for several hydroelectric dams that will each generate between 100 and 300 megawatts.
The ADB already funded $400 million this year for the energy sector reforms and it would inject $1 billion to $1.5 billion per annum in the country’s infrastructure development.
ADB, based in Manila, is dedicated to reducing poverty in Asia and the Pacific through inclusive economic growth, environmentally sustainable growth, and regional integration. In 2014, ADB assistance totaled $22.9 billion, including cofinancing of $9.2 billion.