The FINANCIAL — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is providing an additional grant of $2.8 million for the ongoing South Tarawa Sanitation Improvement Sector Project to enhance access to improved sanitation infrastructure and services for South Tarawa’s urban population.
“The grant will support the rehabilitation of sewerage systems and upgrade of ocean sewage outfalls,” said Robert Jauncey, Director of ADB’s Pacific Subregional Office in Fiji. “Once completed the project is expected to result in significant health improvements, higher productivity, and lower expenditures on medical treatment among target population.”
Kiribati, a small remote atoll country in the Pacific, is facing special challenges and constraints to development. High population density, poor hygiene practices, and inadequate sanitation infrastructure in South Tarawa have contributed to a high prevalence of waterborne diseases among the local population and degradation of the natural environment. South Tarawa comprises a series of islets located along the southern rim of Tarawa Atoll in Kiribati, according to ADB.
The project will improve sanitation and hygiene practices among South Tarawa’s population through a community engagement program, upgrade of priority water and sanitation infrastructure, and onsite sanitation systems. Targeted capacity building program will also be organized to enhance government’s capacity to plan and manage water and sanitation services. A dedicated sanitation maintenance fund will be created to finance sanitation operation and maintenance.
The additional financing brings the total project cost to over USD26 million which includes a $7 million loan from ADB, a $13 million grant from the Government of Australia, a $0.6 million grant from ADB’s Water Financing Partnership Facility, and counterpart funding from the Government of Kiribati.
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