Bangladesh will get a loan worth $140m from the World Bank to improve and strengthen critical disaster prevention infrastructure in the coastal areas of the country.
To this end, Arastoo Khan, additional secretary of Economic Relations Division (ERD) and Johannes Zutt, World Bank country director in Bangladesh, signed an agreement on behalf of their respective organisations at the ERD, according to a World Bank (WB) press release yesterday.
The loan for the second additional financing of the Emergency 2007 Cyclone Recovery and Restoration Project (ECRRP) is from the International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank’s grant and low-interest arm.
The original ECRRP covered a portion of recovery and restoration costs and targeted the most immediate needs in the recovery and restoration of livelihoods and critical infrastructure damaged after Cyclone Sidr in 2007.
Additional damage from Cyclone Aila in 2009 necessitated further financing for the existing project to help those affected.
The IDA credit has 40 years to maturity, including a 10-year grace period, and carries a service charge of 0.75%.
“These recurring natural disasters, with increased severity and unpredictability, remind us that Bangladesh is among the countries most affected by climate change,” said Zutt, adding: “We are providing additional financing to help the coastal communities strengthen their ability to cope with future calamities through disaster preparedness.”
The additional financing will be used for the rehabilitation of 10 polders off the coastal embankment network with the so-called “build-back-better” design.
It will also strengthen the resilience of the coastal area through the construction of 100 new multipurpose cyclone shelters, the rehabilitation of 220 existing multipurpose cyclone shelters, and construction of about 100km of connecting roads.
The additional financing will also continue to design projects for long-term disaster risk reduction and continue to support studies for improved disaster resilience.
“We welcome the additional financing as it will support the preparation of a 15-year government programme for disaster risk reduction,” said Arastoo, adding: “This is a vital initiative to reduce Bangladesh’s vulnerability to natural disasters and climate change impacts in the long run, saving thousands of lives facing the threat of more frequent and severe calamities.”
With this second additional financing, the World Bank is providing total support of $324m for the ECRRP. The project also has $25m support from the Bangladesh Climate Change Resilience Fund, $2.96m from the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery and $4.86m from Germany’s KfW.
The Ministries of Local Government, Water Resources, Disaster Management, Agriculture and Fisheries & Livestock and Planning are jointly implementing the project.
