Funds to pay for construction of wastewater treatment plant and residential hookups
Chihuahua, Chihuahua, June 19, 2003 -- The North American Development Bank (NADB) and the local water utility, Junta Municipal de Agua y Saneamiento de Ojinaga (JMAS), signed a US$2.12 million grant agreement for improvements to the city's wastewater collection and treatment systems.
The signing ceremony was held yesterday in the office of Chihuahua Governor Patricio Martínez, who also signed the agreement as an honorary witness.
The grant is made available through the NADB's Border Environment Infrastructure Fund (BEIF), which operates with funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
"With these funds, Ojinaga will be able to make significant advances in the development of its environmental infrastructure," said Raúl Rodríguez, Managing Director of NADB. "The grant is an essential component for implementing improvements in its wastewater system."
Currently, 25 percent of the population in Ojinaga does not have sewer service. Service to existing customers has also been hampered by deficiencies in the sewer system. When the project is fully implemented, all of the city's residents will be connected to the system, and system improvements will help prevent sewer spills that have the potential for soil and water contamination.
The project will cost a total of US$4.95 million, and the BEIF grant will be applied towards the construction of a new wastewater treatment plant with the capacity to treat 2.5 million gallons a day, as well as the construction of sewer lines, manholes and 2,300 sewer connections.
Through its BEIF program, the NADB has approved more than US$471.8 million in EPA-funded grants to support the construction of environmental infrastructure in various communities, which will benefit residents on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border. Since its inception in 1995, the NADB has approved more than US$532 million in loans and grants for 60 infrastructure projects in the region.
For more information on the NADB, visit www.nadb.org.
The North American Development Bank, created under the auspices of NAFTA, is a financial institution established and capitalized in equal parts by the United States and Mexico for the purpose of financing environmental infrastructure projects along their common border. As a pioneer institution in its field, the Bank is working to develop integrated, sustainable and fiscally responsible projects with broad community support in a framework of close cooperation and coordination between Mexico and the United States.
