The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is providing US$ 30 million in sovereign financing to the Water Authority of Jordan (WAJ) to improve wastewater services for around 200,000 habitants of West Irbid in Jordan.
The new investment will help to complete the construction of a wastewater network, financed by a 2017 EBRD loan, to deliver first-time wastewater services to the area. The loan will help finance the installation of a new wastewater network and pumping infrastructure to benefit local communities and refugees and will contribute to the national target of 80 per cent network coverage by 2030.
Renewable freshwater resources in Jordan are far below the 500-1,000 m3 per capita needed annually and population growth is leading to severe water shortages, placing unprecedented stress on existing municipal services.
The new wastewater network will mitigate numerous environmental and health risks associated with inadequate sewage infrastructure. It will help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by replacing current disposal practices such as cesspits.
The agreement was signed today by Zeina Toukan, Jordan’s Minister of Planning and International Cooperation, Raed Abu Soud, Minister of Water and Irrigation, and Gretchen Biery, EBRD Director and Head of the Eastern Mediterranean Region.
Since it started operating in Jordan in 2012, the EBRD has provided more than €2.2 billion to 74 projects.
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