The FINANCIAL — The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the United Kingdom are providing a financing package equivalent to up to JOD 22 million to the Greater Amman Municipality (GAM) to help improve solid waste operations for Jordan’s capital, Amman, and at Al Ghabawi, Amman’s only sanitary landfill facility,which also serves Zarqa and Ruseifah.
The EBRD investment of JOD 11.1 million is co-financed by a grant from the EBRD Shareholder Special Fund of up to US$ 7.4 million (JOD 5.3 million equivalent) and £5.63 million (JOD 5.5 million) grant from the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID).
GAM will use the funds to purchase 75 refuse collection vehicles to improve the city’s solid waste management. Due to the Syrian refugee crisis and the growing population in the country, especially in Amman, GAM now manages approximately 4,000 tonnes of solid waste a day, a 48 per cent increase on the amounts seen in 2011. This has placed unprecedented strain on the solid waste infrastructure, which the investment is directly addressing, according to the EBRD.
The financing agreements were signed today by Janet Heckman, EBRD Managing Director for the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean region, and Amman’s Mayor, His Excellency Dr Youssef Al Shawarbeh during the EBRD Annual Meeting, in session at the Dead Sea Convention Centre in Jordan until 10 May 2018.
The EBRD has signed several financing agreements with GAM, totalling approximately JOD 87 million (including grants), in response to the solid waste crisis linked to the rising number of refugees and to rapid population growth. Donors including the European Union, the United Kingdom, TaiwanICDF, the EBRD’s Southern and Eastern Mediterranean (SEMED) Multi-Donor Account (Australia, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Taipei China and the United Kingdom) have also been providing grant co-financing and technical assistance to improve GAM’s operations. Among the investments financed is the construction of a waste-to-energy landfill gas system, the first of its kind in the country.
Since it began operations in Jordan in 2012, the EBRD has invested over €1 billion across a wide range of sectors including power and energy, municipal infrastructure, manufacturing, financial services, and small and medium-sized enterprises.
Discussion about this post