By Amin Kef Sesay
Government of the Republic of India has signed a financing agreement with the government of Sierra Leone, wherein it is providing a $15 million loan in support of a drinking water project in the country. Funds will be provided through the Export-Import (EXIM) Bank of India, which is a specialized financial institution set up for financing, facilitating, and promoting foreign trade of the South Asian country. It is wholly owned by the Government of the Republic of India.
According to the Indian High Commission in Freetown, the funds will particularly be used to increase the capacity of drinking water facilities in four cities in the country. These cities include Mongo in Falaba District, Njala-Mokonde in Moyamba District, Mattru Jong in Bonthe District, and Daru in Kailahun District.
Jacob Jusu Saffa, Minister of Finance, explained that the civil war in Sierra Leone between March 1991 and early January 2002 caused the destruction of drinking water installations in those four towns, adding that their rehabilitation and construction would significantly reduce the lack of drinking water in the targeted areas.
More than 100,000 Sierra Leoneans are expected to benefit from continuous access to drinking water following the completion of the project.
The project is also expected to solely increase the current national drinking water coverage by about 0.6%, and contribute to the government’s plans to increase the rate of access to drinking water from the current 59.6% to at least 80% come the year 2023.
