WB USD 3.4 mln Irrigation Project to be completed within May

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Bledi Cuci announced that a World Bank-funded investment worth 3.4 million $ for the rehabilitation of irrigation system in the areas of Lushnja is expected to be completed within the deadline. During a visit to Lushnja, Cuci said that 7% of the works has been already completed. The minister said that delays in project implementation will not be tolerated. "The investment should be completed in May. Until then I will be here again to see the work progress and will not tolerate delays," minister Cuci told to the representative of the company contracted for the project. In the Myzeqe district there are about 4,300 hectares of agricultural land linked to the irrigation system which is under construction. The supply is managed from the Thana reservoir, one of the largest in Albania and also in the region. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, together with the support of partners, will continue to invest in irrigation projects across the country to provide farmers with all the facilities in their agricultural activity, the minister added. Last year, the World Bank said it has approved an additional Dollar 26.8 million (Euro 21.8 million) loan to support a water and irrigation project in Albania. "The additional financing would provide support to scale up the Albania water resources and irrigation project and include additional investments and activities to increase the impact of the original project," the World Bank said a statement last week, announcing the decision of its board of executive directors. The loan has a maturity of 25 years and a grace period of 7 years, the statement added. The water  resources and irrigation project was first approved in 2012 and started implementation in 2013 with a Dollar 31 million loan from the World Bank and a Dollar 3.88 million grant from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), according to information posted on the World Bank's website. The project focuses on the establishment of a strategic framework to manage water resources at the national level and in the Drin-Buna and Semani river basins, and improve, in a sustainable manner, the performance of irrigation systems in the project area.

Source: Shqiptarja