WB grants $ 32 m for infrastructure and houses in Puttalam
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Treasury Secretary Dr. P. B. Jayasundera and World Bank country
director Naoko Ishii exchange the agreement.
Picture by Sumanachandra Ariyawansa.
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The World Bank (WB) provided a concessional loan of US$ 32 million
for infrastructure development and housing projects in the Puttalam
district. The loan agreement was signed on Friday by WB country Director
Ms. Naoko Ishii and Treasury Secretary Dr. P. B. Jayasundera.
The loan will finance housing, drinking water, sanitation and
environment improvement projects, benefit 20,600 internally displaced
families and other families living in Kalpitiya, Mundel, Puttalam and
Vanathavilluwa divisions in the Puttalam district.
The project includes the construction of 100 Km internal roads
linking the main highways, 34 water supply schemes, sanitation and flood
control schemes.The project will be completed within three years.
Under the housing assistance program a cash grant will be provided to
construct a house or improve the existing housing unit. The full housing
cash grant is Rs. 250,000 to build a house. Rs. 100,000 will be granted
to complete construction of a partly built house.
The Ministry of Resettlement and Disaster Relief Service will
implement the project. Ishii said that the poverty level in the Puttalam
district is higher than the national average though it is adjacent to
the Colombo district. It also has a large number of IDPs and the WB
likes to work together with the government to address the issues in the
district. The WB already has some projects in the district.
We like to see the results as soon as possible, she said.
The WB loan is an interest free concessional loan with 0.75% service
charge per annum and repayable in 20 years inclusive of a 10-year grace
period.
GW
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