WASHINGTON, June 7, 2005 - The World Bank today approved a Water Quality Protection Project for Bosnia and Herzegovina. The project will be funded by a grant from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) of US$8.9 million, with expected contributions from the borrower and others of US$11.37 million equivalent.
The project will assist the government to further strengthen the capacity of local utilities and reduce pollution from municipal sources into the Bosna and Neretva Rivers.
“For years, both of these rivers have been gradually environmentally degraded by wastewater from communities and industrial facilities, and have become a source of pollutants for both the Danube, as well as the Adriatic and Mediterranean,” said Seema Manghee, the Task Manager for the project.“This GEF grant will assist to start addressing and improving this environment problem on these transboundary rivers.”
The Water Quality Protection Project was prepared in close cooperation with local, regional and Entity authorities as well as with local experts. The project will develop a Wastewater Improvement Plan; assist to enhance cooperation with institutions in Croatia and Serbia and Montenegro; build a network of public and private institutions for wastewater treatment; and target investments in innovative low-cost wastewater treatment methods.
The project will be implemented between 2005-2010, and will further improve coordination between neighboring countries to share information and data on water quality and monitoring and evaluation.
“This GEF-grant funded project will help to further strengthen the already established coordination between Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, and Serbia & Montenegro through a review of the implementation progress and environmental monitoring information, along with lessons learned under the project,” said Marinko Bozic, Minister of Agriculture, Water Management and Forestry, whose ministry is responsible for the overall implementation of the project. *** The Global Environment Facility (GEF) is a mechanism for providing new and additional grant and concessional funding to meet the agreed incremental costs of measures to achieve agreed global environmental benefits in four focal areas: climate change, biological diversity, international waters, and ozone layer depletion. GEF also supports the work of global agreements to combat desertification and eliminate persistent organic pollutants.
The World Bank Group is one of GEF’s implementing agencies, and it supports countries in preparing GEF co-financed projects and supervises their implementation. It plays the primary role in ensuring the development and management of investment projects. The Bank draws upon its investment experience in eligible countries to promote investment opportunities and to mobilize private sector, bilateral, multilateral, and other government and non-government sector resources that are consistent with GEF objectives and national sustainable development strategies.
Since 1991, the World Bank Group has committed $1.972 billion in GEF resources and $3.037 billion in Bank group co-financing for GEF projects in 80 countries. In addition to GEF and Bank resources, it has mobilized additional co-financing of $6.952 billion from other donors. For further information on Bank’s GEF program, visit http://www.worldbank.org/gef For further information on GEF, visit http://www.gefweb.org
For more information on the World Bank’s work in Bosnia and Herzegovina, please visit http://www.worldbank.ba
-###- |
RSS