EIB provides 16.3m euros to support Deir Alla, Al Karamah project

AMMAN — The Government of Jordan and the European Investment Bank (EIB) have signed a grant agreement of 16.3 million euros to support the implementation of the Deir Alla and Al Karamah project, according to an EU statement on Thursday. 

The project, which received 65 million euros of EIB financing last February, will improve water supply systems in Deir Alla and Al Karamah districts in the Jordan Valley and involves the construction of a centralised sewage collection and treatment network in the Deir Alla district, the statement said. 

The grant agreement was signed on Thursday during a ceremony hosted by Ali Subah, general secretary of the Ministry of Water and Irrigation, the EU Delegation in Amman, Flavia Palanza, EIB Director of Operations for Eastern and Southern Neighbourhood and the EIB loan Director Jolian Bogonzo.

The grant, which comes under the Economic Resilience Initiative Fund (ERIF) and complements the EIB’s financing of the project, will contribute to improving water supply and sanitation services for more than 85,000 inhabitants in the Jordan Valley area, according to the statement.

“I am pleased to sign this grant agreement with the Jordanian government. We strongly support the government’s plans to improve access to drinking water and sanitation services. The Deir Alla and Al Karamah project will improve people’s access to these services. We are providing this grant funding to support the implementation of the project thanks to our European donors who contributed to the Economic Resilience Initiative Fund,” Palanza was quoted in the statement as saying. 

Subah expressed his gratitude to the EIB for their continuous support to the Jordanian water sector, which suffers from vast challenges especially after hosting 1.3 million Syrian refugees.

 For her part, the EU Ambassador to Jordan, Maria Hadjitheodosiou, said: “The EU is proud to support the water sector in Jordan in a holistic manner, through our bilateral cooperation, regional projects and direct technical advice in the framework of the Mediterranean Hot Spots Investment Programme (MeHSIP), from which the Deir Alla project has benefitted.” 

“The sustainable use of scarce water resources is of utmost importance to a country like Jordan and to the entire region; the Deir Alla project will play an important role in promoting the renewal of water supply networks,” she added. 

The EIB‘s support to the project aims at securing reliable and improved access to drinking water, which is beneficial for health and agriculture, as well as economic development and social stability in Jordan.

The project comes under the EIB’s Economic Resilience Initiative (ERI) designed to strengthen EU Southern Neighbouring countries’ ability to withstand shocks.  The Deir Alla and Al Karamah project will have substantial benefits in terms of enhanced social infrastructure, regional development and positive environmental impact, read the statement.

The preparation and implementation of the Deir Alla and Al Karamah project also reflects the strong cooperation between the EIB, donors and partners. The project has been financed by the External Lending Mandate (ELM) guarantee provided by the EU to the EIB. The feasibility study was prepared with the support of the EU-funded MeHSIP, while the Climate Action in the Middle East and North Africa (CAMENA) initiative provided the grant for the preparation of the feasibility study, concluded the statement.