The Inter-American Development Bank today announced the approval of a $30 million loan to Panama for a project to improve sanitation and environmental conditions in its capital city and the Bay of Panama.
The financing will provide additional resources to expand Panama City’s sewer system, a project that has experienced increases in the costs of building materials, equipment and labor due to the construction boom the country has seen in recent years. The IDB first supported the project with a $45 million loan approved in 2006.
Panama has made progress in the project, finishing the construction of 34 kilometers of sewers which have benefitted more than 2,500 families in poor neighborhoods. Nevertheless, more resources are required to complete other infrastructure needed to reduce pollution caused by raw sewage dumped in ravines and rivers crossing the capital.
Some 50 kilometers of sewers are yet to be completed in the outskirts of the city, including areas recently included in the metropolitan region. These works will benefit 7.000 more families. In addition, collectors and interconnectors must be built to catch wastewater going into ravines and rivers.
The project also entails strengthening the state-owned water and sanitation utility, IDAAN, which is executing the project together with Panama’s Health Ministry.
The Panamanian government has secured international support for a second stage of the sanitation project, which calls for building a wastewater treatment plant and an intercepting tunnel along the bay shoreline.
Source: Inter-American Development Bank
More on this topic
December 2009
IDB authorized a $30 million loan to improve health and environmental conditions in the capital city.
This loan provides complementary funding to a project for expanding the sewer system of Panama City. The costs of this project have increased in the past years, due to the city's construction boom, which raised prices in materials, machinery and human resources.
September 2010
Investments will target cities in central and western provinces, along with low-income suburban communities near Panama City.
Panama will expand coverage and improve the quality of water supply services and sewer systems in cities near its capital and in its central and western provinces with a $40 million loan approved by the Inter-American Development Bank.
April 2010
Stalled since May 2009 due to lack of funding, the project to build a sewer system in the Municipality of Santa Rita has been resumed.
40% of the project has been completed so far, and the remainder is expected to be completed in about 6 months. Funding is provided by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).
October 2010
The Andean Development Corporation (CAF) approved a $120 million loan for the project to clean up the Bay of the City of Panama.
In the past decades, accelerated urban growth in Panama City has caused sewage problems and contamination in the bay of the city. The situation is being addressed through a clean-up project called "Proyecto de Saneamiento de la Ciudad y Bahía de Panamá", for which CAF has approved a $120 million loan.
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