THE Asian Development Bank (ADB) will be supporting the next phase of the sustainable transport infrastructure improvement programme this year.
The funding support through a loan stands at US$14 million (SDB$100m).
According to information obtained by the Solomon Star from Hayden Everett, a Senior Country Specialist of the Pacific Liaison and Coordination Office within the Asian Development Bank (ADB), this caters for the next phase of support to the transport sector.
Mr Everett said the funds will be coordinated through the National transport Fund (NTF) board, which involved members from the Solomon Islands government and development partners like Australia, the European Commission, New Zealand, and the World Bank.
Mr Everett said that for this infrastructure project, ADB will pump funds into NTF.
He further explained that with ADB now pumping funds to the NTF account it frees ADB from past experiences where it directly funds infrastructure projects in the country.
“Now the transport related projects will be implemented and carried out by the Solomon Islands government while ADB allocates funds,” he said.
The proposed Solomon Islands Sustainable Transport Infrastructure Improvement programme aims to improve the transport sector’s capacity to sustain improved mobility and accessibility to socioeconomic opportunities through key policy reform actions.
ABD said the impact will be that the people of the Solomon Islands have sustainably improved mobility and accessibility to socioeconomic opportunities.
The outcome will be that the government achieves safe, efficient and effective transport infrastructure through continuing rehabilitation, maintenance, and improvement of transport infrastructure by promoting the National Transport Plan (NTP), National Transport Fund (NTF), and Central Project Implementation Unit (CPIU).
By MOFFAT MAMU
in Sydney
