$140m WB loan for disaster prevention project

The World Bank (WB) will provide Bangladesh with an additional $140 million for improvement of the existing disaster prevention infrastructure in vulnerable areas of the country.
An agreement was signed Monday between the global lender and the government to this effect at the Economic Relations Division (ERD) under the Ministry of Finance.  
 Director of the World Bank in Dhaka office Johannes Zutt and Additional Secretary of the Economic Relations Division Arastoo Khan signed the low-interest loan agreement on behalf of their respective sides.
"This is additional financing of the Emergency 2007 Cyclone Recovery and Restoration Project (ECRRP) from the International Development Association (IDA) to support the country's disaster affected people", Mr Zutt said.
With the second phase funding, the global bank is proving total financial support of $324 million for the ECRRP. The project also has included $25 million from the Bangladesh Climate Change Resilience Fund.
 The World Bank's representative said additional damages by the Cyclone Aila in 2009 required further financing for the existing project to prepare the disaster-prone communities with better resilience of the forthcoming disasters.
"These recurring natural disasters, with the increased severity and unpredictability, remind us that Bangladesh is among the countries most affected by the climate change", the director said adding that the global bank is further funding to help the most vulnerable coastal communities through strengthening their ability to cope with the forthcoming calamities.
According to the agreement, the additional monetary grants will be used for the rehabilitation of 10 polders of the costal embankment network with the so-called 'build-back-better' design.
It will also strengthen the resilience of the coastal people through the construction of 100 new multi-purpose cyclone shelters, the rehabilitation of 200 existing multipurpose cyclone shelters, and construction of about 100km of connecting roads.
The second phase funding will also continue to design projects for the long-term disaster risk reduction and continue to support studies for the improved disaster resiliences.
GoB representative Mr Khan expressed gratitude to the global bank saying that the added funding will support the preparedness of a 15-year government programme for disaster risk reduction.
"This is a vital initiative to reduce the country's vulnerability to the natural disaster and climate change impacts in the long-run, saving thousands of lives from the threat of more frequent catastrophes," he noted.
The ministries of local government, water resources, disaster management, agriculture, fisheries and livestock and planning are jointly implementing the emergency project.