Announcement of Water Supply and Sewerage in Jordan to be Improved with World Bank Assistance on December 9, 1982

·.. fO~ IMMEDIATE RELEASE I ., .World Bank 1818 H Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20433, U.S.A.• Telephone: (202) 477-1234 BANK NEWS RELEASE NO. 83/22 Contact: Ciro Gamarra December 9, 1982 ( 202) 477-8035 WATER SUPPLY AND SEWERAGE IN JORDAN TO BE IMPROVED WITH WORLD BANK ASSISTANCE A modern sewerage system will be established in an industrial center of Jordan with the help of a $17 million loan from the International Bank for Reconstruction a.nd Development (IBRD), the World Bank announced today. The $91 million project will also improve water supply and strengthen the country's Water Supply Corporation. The main beneficiaries of the project will be low- and middle-income families in Zarqa and Ruseifa, about 20 kilometers northeast of Amman. The project was prepared by the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan with the assistance of the United States Agency for International Development ·(uSAID) during 1978-80. Water supply and sewerage facilities in Zarqa and Ruseifa (combined population of 300,000) in the Greater Amman area will be improved with the construction of about 133 kilometers of trunk and distribution mains. Some 12,000 supply and production meters will be provided also. This is the first phase of a program to strengthen • the distribution system in the populated areas of the two cities and to extend the distribution system to rapidly developing districts • Water quality in the Zarqa River will be improved as a result of the first phase of a sewerage program serving commercial centers and the more densely populated areas of the two cities. Roughly 364 kilometers of trunk and other sewers, as well as a sewage pumping station and treatment plant will be constructed. To relieve annual flooding in the project area, n.nderground culverts and sewers will provide stormwater drainage. The project is expected to receive co-financing from USAID ($15 million), the Kreditanstalt fur Wiederaufbau, Germany ($14.4 million), and the Islamic Development Bank ($7.8 million). The IBRD loan is for 17 years, including four years of grace, at an interest rate tied to World Bank borrowing. The loan also carries an annual commitment charge of 0.75% on undisbursed balances and a front-end fee of 1.5% on the amount of the loan. The World Bank commenced its assistance to Jordan's water supply sector in the 1960s. Two credits in 1961 and 1963 from the International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank 1 s affiliate for concessionary lending, supported water supply development in Amman and in other cities. IDA credits in 1973 and 1978, to help create the Amman Water and Sewerage Authority, brought total lending to $26.7 million for the sector. By mid-1978, Jordan had attained a stage of economic development where it could be considered creditworthy for IBRD loans. The country has received eight IBRD loans totaling $185 million and 15 IDA credits totaling $86.1 million • • NOTE: Money figures are expressed in U.S. dollar equivalents •.