ADB to give $100m infrastructure assistance at Rohingya camps

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is going to give a $100 million grant in the first phase for development of basic infrastructure and service for the Rohingyas living in refugee camps in Cox's Bazar. Bangladesh government and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) signed an agreement in this regard yesterday.

The grant assistance forms part of an envisaged package totaling $200 million, said an ADB statement.

Kazi Shofiqul Azam, Secretary, Economic Relations Division (ERD), and Manmohan Parkash, Country Director, ADB, signed the agreement on behalf of Bangladesh and ADB respectively at a ceremony at ERD.

“The grant assistance project has been prepared, processed and approved at an extraordinary speed in two months after ADB received a request for grant assistance from the Government of Bangladesh in May 2018,” said Manmohan Parkash. “We are very happy that ADB's member countries quickly approved the fund as grant since ADB doesn't have a separate window for providing grant for displaced persons,” Parkash added.

The grant will support the displaced people sheltered in camps in the Ukhia and Teknaf of Cox's Bazar, focusing on water supply and sanitation, disaster risk management, energy, and roads.

The ADB support will be aligned with the multi-sector Joint Response Plan prepared by the UN-led Inter Sector Coordination Group in coordination with the government. The project has been developed and will be implemented in close coordination with UN agencies, the World Bank, and other donors and humanitarian agencies, according to the ADB statement.

ADB said the first phase of the project will spend $100 million over about 2.5 years. In addition, the government will provide $20 million.

Bangladesh and the (ADB) yesterday signed two more loan agreements amounting $250.44 million.

Of the amount, $225 million is for overhauling secondary education and boosting education quality, access, and relevance. ADB said the assistance is the third and final tranche of the $500 million Secondary Education Sector Investment Programme (SESIP) approved in 2013.

Another agreement was signed under which $25.44 million in grant will be given to Bangladesh to spur off-grid solar photovoltaic (SPV) pumping for agricultural irrigation.