WASHINGTON, May 8, 2003—The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors today approved a $40.39 million loan for the
Nura River Cleanup Project in Kazakhstan. The project aims to clean up serious mercury pollution in and around the Nura River in the northeastern part of the country to provide a safe, secure and cost effective alternative source of water supply to meet growing needs of local water users, and to restore flow control in the river for flood management and ecological purposes.
Kazakhstan is facing a number of challenges with respect to ongoing protection of the environment, remediation of environmental degradation, and the cost-effective supply of potable water to the population. With independence, Kazakhstan inherited a legacy of environmental damage caused by many years of output-focused development, with little regard to either economic viability or environmental impact. The most serious of these legacies threaten the well-being of the population, not only within the immediate area, but also in many instances over a broad geographic region. Kazakhstan also inherited a costly and elaborate system for water supply. Many Soviet-era water supply projects were intended to provide not only water for the population, but also irrigation water for agricultural schemes that subsequently proved not to be economically viable. To start tackling these problems, the Government is setting up systems and institutions for integrated resource management on a river basin basis.
The Nura River Cleanup Project, which has a total cost of $67.82 million, consists of the following four components:
· Component 1 includes financing to construct a secure landfill for proper containment of contaminated soil and materials; to excavate contaminated hotspots at the AO Karbide plant site at Temirtau; and to excavate other highly contaminated areas, including the Zhaur Swamp, and critical areas of mercury accumulation along the banks and floodplains of the Nura River, as well as the transport of the materials to the landfill site and initial operation of the landfill.
· Component 2 finances rehabilitation of the Intumak Reservoir, including reinforcement of the dam and completion of the spillway and gates to allow the dam to operate as a mechanism for flow control at its original design reservoir level.
· Component 3 finances technical assistance, training, and equipment needed to increase the institutional capacity of the Nura-Sarysu River Basin Authority. It will work to strengthen its resource planning and management capacity, as well as to strengthen the water quality monitoring network, and water pollution control systems.
· Component 4 covers a number of activities related to project management and monitoring, including providing training in areas such as procurement, disbursement, and project accounting; auditing project accounts; assisting in implementing the environmental management plan, especially in regard to public awareness; and specialist assistance in areas such as hydrology, social sciences, and environmental management.
The IBRD loan has a grace period of 5 years and a maturity of 15 years. Since Kazakhstan joined the World Bank in July 1992, commitments to the country total US$1.9 billion for 22 operations.
