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A US$300 million loan approved today by the Asian Development Bank will improve water quality and flood control in the heavily-polluted Suzhou Creek, which flows through the heart of Shanghai in the People's Republic of China.
The ADB assistance will improve the environment, living conditions and public health standards of about 3 million people living in the area. Suzhou Creek is severely polluted with large discharges of untreated agricultural, industrial, and municipal wastewater and solid waste.
The objective of the Suzhou Creek Rehabilitation Project is to remove discolored and foul-smelling water from the creek, restore water quality by 2004, and relocate nightsoil and solid waste collection wharves along the creek banks. The project will facilitate interceptor sewers, pumping stations, a wastewater treatment plant, and flow control structures on tributaries. The project will also help build greenbelts along both banks of the creek.
The total project cost is estimated at US$876 million equivalent, of which the China Development Bank is providing a US$285.3 million loan and the rest will be funded by the Government. The ADB loan will come from its ordinary capital resources at the Bank's pool-based variable lending rate for US dollar loans, with a commitment charge of 0.75 percent per annum. The loan will have a maturity of 25 years, including a grace period of 5 years.
The executing agency for the project is the Shanghai Suzhou Creek Rehabilitation and Construction Company.