March 29, 2024, 8:13 pm


Staff Correspondent

Published:
2020-11-20 00:55:15 BdST

WB channels $100m more into service delivery to Rohingya


The government on Thursday signed a $100 million grant financing agreement with the World Bank to scale up access to energy, water, sanitation services and disaster-resilient infrastructures for the Rohingya and the surrounding host communities.

The global agency hopes that the additional financing to the ongoing ‘Emergency Multi-Sector Rohingya Crisis Response Project’ will benefit about 780,800 people, including 140,800 local people with better public infrastructure.

“Since the very beginning of the crisis, the World Bank has been supporting Bangladesh to respond to the needs of Rohingya people as well as the host communities,” said WB Country Director Mercy Miyang Tembon.

Over 740,000 out of around one million Rohingya people came to Cox’s Bazar following persecution by the Myanmar military in August 2017.

“We recognise that the sheer magnitude of the influx placed enormous pressure on Cox’s Bazar’s infrastructure and provision of basic services. The additional financing will help alleviate the pressure and address the needs of the host communities as well as the Rohingya people,” added the WB official.

The latest assistance, according to a WB news release, would help about 365,800 people access to improved water sources and 171,800 people access better sanitation. This will be achieved through installing mini-piped water supply schemes, point water sources, and rainwater harvesting systems, along with household toilets and community toilets in the Cox’s Bazar district, it said.

The grant is also designed to help build 40 multi-purpose disaster shelters, accessible to 81,000 people and climate resilient evacuation roads, as well as install around 4,000 solar streetlights and 975 lightning protection systems.

The agreement was signed by Additional Secretary at the Economic Relations Division Md. Shahabuddin Patwary and the WB’s Mercy Tembon.

With this, the WB’s total commitment to the project stands at $265 million in grants. So far, the agency has provided $480 million in grants to enable Bangladesh to deal with the displaced population inflow.

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