Announcement of Northeast Colombia to Benefit from Improved Water Supply and Sanitation on September 13, 1984

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE World Bank 1818 H Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20433, U.S.A. BANK NEWS RELEASE NO. 85/7 Contact: Ciro Gamarra September 13, 1984 (202) 477- 5320 NORTHEAST COLOMBIA TO BENEFIT FROM IMPROVED WATER SUPPLY AND SANITATION Colombia will invest about $38 million to improve the water supply and sanitation services in the city of Cucuta, in the northeast. Over 240,000 people will eventually benefit from the project, which The World Bank is supporting with a loan of $18.5 million. The population of Cucuta, a town of 40,000 in 1940, has grown to some 350,000, making it Colombia's eighth largest city. About 80 percent of its population is supplied with piped water and about 70 percent is served by the sewerage system. But the transmission and distribution capacity is inadequate to distribute all the water that the utility company can produce and the sewerage system is overloaded and needs to be expanded. The World Bank loan will help finance the expansion of the water transmission and distribution capacity. And a new water production facility will be built. These measures will allow service to be provided to an additional 95,000 people by 1988, another 35,000 between 1989 and 1991, and improved services to about 110,000 people. The sewerage system will be expanded by the construction of a water stabilization lagoon for the treatment of sewage. Storm drainage collectors will be built. And a section of the Canal Bogota will be lined. This canal is the backbone of the city's drainage system. Consultants will be engaged to help administer the project and supervise construction. They will also help prepare a feasibility study on consolidating water and sewerage services throughout the Cucuta metropolitan area. Empresas Municipales de Cucuta (the Cucuta Municipal Utility Company), the executing agency, will contribute $8.3 million towards the cost of the project, the government, $6.9 million, and local financial institutions will provide a loan of $4.2 million. The project is expected to be completed in seven years. The World Bank loan is for 17 years, including four years grace, with a variable interest rate, currently 9.89 percent, linked to the cost of the Bank's borrowings. It also carries an annual commitment charge of 0.75 percent on undisbursed balances and a front-end fee of 0.25 percent on the amount of the loan. NOTE: Money figures are expressed in U.S. dollar equivalents.