The World Bank yesterday officially signed a financing agreement of $80 million (about K36 billion) with government towards the Malawi Floods Emergency Recovery project.
Speaking at the signing ceremony at Capital Hill in Lilongwe, Minister of Finance, Economic Planning and Development Goodall Gondwe said the project is important and timely.
He said: “Government will undertake some important recovery and rehabilitation works resulting from floods that hit the country early this year.”
The minister said the project will help people who lost their livelihood to work and get farm inputs to revamp their lives. He further said the project will help Malawi to restock the Strategic Grain Reserves (SGRs) with 50 000 metric tonnes of maize. All these activities are part of what government is planning as part of its disaster response package.
Said Gondwe: “On its part, government is committed to delivering this project in a timely and efficient manner so that it benefits the right people.”
In February this year, government raised the alarm on the devastation caused by floods at the beginning of the year.
World Bank country manager, Laura Kullenberg said with the funds, government should be able to reconstruct and improve roads, schools and health and irrigation facilities.
Two weeks ago, Parliament authorised government to borrow the money from the World Bank to facilitate post-disaster recovery.
During the floods, most infrastructure including some key roads and bridges, were damaged. Thousands of people were also displaced, with some dead and others reported missing.
