The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will provide the government with $125 million in loan to help develop the pourasabhas (municipalities) as model towns.
The development partner Wednesday signed a soft-term loan deal with the government for funding a $236-million dollar project titled “Third Urban Governance and Infrastructure Improvement Sector Project”.
The OPEC Fund for International Development will cofinance the project with $40 million when the government will source $71 million.
The project is designed to improve services and governance in pourasabhas (municipalities), making them more livable and attractive, and helping to ease population pressures in major cities.
The Local Government Engineering Department and Department of Public Health Engineering under the Local Government Division will implement the project by 2020.
Participating pourasabhas will prepare their development plans and implement subprojects in consultation with a broad-based citizen forum known as town level coordination committee.
The new project will provide assistance to 30 pourasabhas with a total population of 2.2 million, including 20 district headquarters.
The project will help roads, drainage and sanitation systems, piped water supplies, and solid waste collection and disposal.
It will also strengthen the ability of municipalities to carry out urban planning, financial management, and service delivery.
Some of the expected benefits will include reduced travel time and cost savings from better roads, health improvements from piped water and solid waste collection, and more citizen participation in governance and the provision of basic services.
Economic Relations Division (ERD) Secretary Mohammad Mejbahuddin and Country Director for ADB’s Bangladesh Resident Mission Kazuhiko Higuchi signed the agreement on behalf of Bangladesh and ADB respectively at a ceremony at ERD, Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, Dhaka.
