|
MANILA, PHILIPPINES (19 December 2003) - ADB today approved a US$22 million equivalent loan to improve flood protection in selected areas of Azerbaijan.
The flood mitigation project will implement 25 least-cost solutions to protect villages and agricultural land around the Araz, Ganikh, and Mazim rivers from floods.
Non-structural measures, such as afforestation, flood forecasting systems and flood zoning, as well as disaster-preparedness training, will also be provided. To ensure sustainability, the project will establish flood management infrastructure, plans, and practices.
It will cover 12 districts in the four flood-prone areas, where poverty incidence is 63%, compared to 49% nationwide.
"Floods worsen the living standards of the poor, negate any progress in reducing poverty, and can cause the non-poor to fall into poverty," says Ashraf Malik, project administration unit head of ADB's East and Central Asia Department.
"Water resources control and management are, therefore, the critical factors underlying efforts to promote rural growth and raise rural incomes."
About 1.2 million hectares of land in Azerbaijan are vulnerable to floods, which can cause considerable loss of life and property. With $3.7 billion worth of business assets at risk, income is also affected. The impact is more keenly felt because most of the rural population cannot afford personal, crop, and livestock insurance.
Major floods, usually from snowmelt combined with heavy rainfall, occurred in Azerbaijan in 1988, 1997, 1999, and 2002. Average annual damage from 1980 to 1990 is estimated at $20 million.
The project will provide protection to five major towns and 43 villages, and support the livelihood of over 200,000 people living on 76,790 hectares of floodplains. It will prevent an average annual loss of $4.83 million.
The loan comes with an advisory technical assistance grant of US$500,000, financed by the Japan Special Fund, funded by the Government of Japan, to help the Government identify and initiate medium- to long-term comprehensive flood management.
The project is estimated to cost US$29.35 million equivalent with the Government contributing US$7.35 million.
ADB's loan, which will meet 75% of the total cost, comes from its concessional Asian Development Fund. The loan carries a 32-year term, including a grace period of eight years, with interest at 1% per annum during the grace period and 1.5% per annum thereafter.
The State Amelioration and Irrigation Committee is the executing agency for the project, due for completion in March 2008.