AMMAN — The European Investment Bank (EIB) and the
government have signed an agreement worth 507 million euros to finance part of
the National Water Carrier project,
Al-Mamlaka TV reported.
اضافة اعلان
According to the agreement, the EIB provides a loan to the
Ministry of Water and Irrigation to cover part of the financing needed for the
project, estimated at 2.68 billion euros, which the government seeks to provide
through grants and loans.
The signing of the loan agreement took place on Thursday.
The project aims to increase water supply in the Kingdom by
providing up to 300 million cubic meters of water annually through
desalination. Water will be pumped from Aqaba to Amman and the rest of the
governorates. The project also seeks to “adapt” and cope with the effects of
climate change and, possibly, mitigate them.
Treated water will be pumped from a sea water station south
of Aqaba to Amman via a new water carrier about 420 kilometers long. The new
line will run, in most parts, in parallel with the existing Disi conveyor, and
is expected to create jobs during construction and operation.
According to the EIB, the full environmental and social
impact assessment of the project, funded by it, was done in line with best
international practices and the bank’s environmental and social standards. An
“environmental and social impact assessment” by the Jordanian government was
also approved, according to the bank’s announcement.
The EIB announced in April, when it participated in the
donors’ pledge conference for the National Water Carrier Project held by the
Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation, its readiness to provide
$250 million as a development loan.
Former planning minister, Nasser Shraideh announced at the
conference that $1.83 billion in grants and loans would be provided to
implement the project: $447 million in grants, $522 million in development
loans, and $861 million in soft investment loans.
The International Finance Corporation, the investment arm of
the World Bank, pledged to provide an investment loan of up to $400 million to
finance the project, bringing pledges to more than $2 billion.
The new financing will help Jordan, which suffers from acute
water scarcity, and has one of the lowest levels of water availability per
capita in the world. Water share per capita is expected to decrease further in
the coming years, due to climate change and the increase in population, from
the current estimated 10 million to 18 million in 2047.
The bank’s announced that the project represents “a priority
for the Jordanian government and supports the goals of the European Union and
the EIB in the country”, and is in line with the National Water Strategy
2016–2025.
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