The World Bank Board of Executive Directors approved on June 28 a US$322.15 million loan in support of Turkey’s Istanbul Municipality Infrastructure Project (IMIP).
Istanbul is one of the largest cities in Europe and Turkey’s main center of industrial, financial, service and other economic activities.
The project’s main objectives are to a) improve solid waste management in the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality and b) retrofit key facilities and infrastructure to strengthen their earthquake resilience, and upgrade institutions and their procedures to help them respond to emergencies. The project includes four main components:
· Develop environmentally friendly municipal infrastructure in Istanbul through solid waste management services. This component includes the closure of uncontrolled disposal sites for municipal solid waste. The Loan also supports the institutional strengthening of solid waste services through preparation of annual Business Plans on financial and technical operations.
· Strengthen Istanbul’s earthquake resilience and disaster management capacity. This component includes the preparation of a detailed risk assessment for all major municipal systems, and funding of priority investments in Istanbul’s most vulnerable earthquake prone areas.
· Pilot urban transformation program. This component pilots feasibility studies of urban transformation and includes the retrofitting, rehabilitation and construction of municipal buildings, fire stations and emergency housing in earthquake prone areas.
· Project Management. This component consists of design studies, surveys and technical training for project implementation.
“The World Bank is very pleased to partner with the city of Istanbul and the Government of Turkey in the investments that this loan helps finance. The rapid urbanization in Istanbul, and in Turkey as a whole, makes sustained investments in local infrastructure, such as under this project, especially important,” said Ulrich Zachau, Country Director for Turkey, on the occasion of the approval of the loan by the World Bank.
He added: “Istanbul’s size, human and physical capital, and location at the Bosporus provide the city with exceptional economic opportunities and potential, along with a high and growing demand for municipal services and the special challenges of one of the world’s most active earthquake zones. The environmentally friendly investments under this project will strengthen solid waste management and retrofit buildings and critical infrastructure facilitates to withstand earthquakes better. They will greatly improve the lives of people in Istanbul.”
The loan is made available to the Municipality of Istanbul and is guaranteed by the Turkish Treasury. It is denominated in USD, has a 15-year maturity, including a 5-year grace period, and its rate of interest is the six-month LIBOR plus a fixed spread. -The World Bank
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