EU, EBRD to improve wastewater services for over 105,000 people

AMMAN — The EU through its Regional Trust Fund "Madad" on Thursday signed a grant agreement to provide 20 million euros to co-finance a 25 million euros European Bank for Reconstruction and Development's (EBRD) investment for the construction of a wastewater network in Irbid.

The agreement was signed by the EU Ambassador to Jordan Andrea Matteo Fontana and the EBRD’s regional director of the eastern and Mediterranean region, Heike Harmgart, during the EBRD’s Annual Meeting and Business Forum in Jordan.

Over 105,000 residents of the western part of Irbid’s Governorate, 18 per cent of whom are Syrians, will have access to sanitation services for the first time, an EBRD statement said, noting that population growth following the large refugee influx has put unprecedented strain on the local wastewater network, placing extra pressure on the outdated infrastructure for wastewater collection. 

The project also benefits from grant co-financing of $ 2.5 million from the World Bank’s Global Concessional Financing Facility and 5.9 million euros from the EBRD Shareholder Special Fund.

The 53 million euros financing package to the Water Authority of Jordan will be used to connect households in 15 towns to sewage networks leading to the Wadi Al Arab Wastewater Treatment Plant and will also finance the infrastructure for a catchment area of 21.9 square kilometres and the installation of pumping stations. 

Currently, only 63 per cent of the Jordanians have access to wastewater networks and treatment systems. As part of its country strategy, the EBRD is implementing a comprehensive wastewater investment programme. The western Irbid wastewater project is the third of its kind to be implemented by the EBRD in Jordan, the statement concluded. 

Since it started its operations in Jordan, the EBRD has invested around 1billion euros to support sustainable energy, direct and indirect financing of private enterprises and promoting infrastructure reform, the statement concluded.