Public Sector Lending in 2001*

Europe

*All public sector lending operations in 2001 concerned development project financing.

Water supply is particularly unreliable in Albania’s remote, mountainous areas. A new project will rehabilitate distribution networks both there and in towns.

Albania

Sector: Water Supply and Sewerage
Project: Water Supply Rehabilitation
Amount: $2.7 million
Terms: Interest rate of 1.75% per annum; 20-year maturity, including a 5-year grace period
Approved: August 28, 2001
Executing agency: Ministry of Public Works
Co-financiers: IDA, Government of Albania
Loan administrator: OPEC Fund
Total cost: $11.27 million

Although around 80% of Albania's population is connected to a piped-in water supply, delivery is very unreliable, with urban areas receiving service for only a few hours per day and remote rural regions enjoying even less coverage. Shortages, however, are not due to inadequate supplies, but the result of losses caused by a dilapidated and poorly maintained distribution network. Water quality is substandard due to a lack of purification facilities, and poses serious health risks. This loan will support an initiative to rehabilitate the water distribution network across the entire country. Measures taken will include the supply and installation of distribution piping, fittings, materials and spare parts, as well as on-site repairs of any visible leaks in the distribution network. Water quality will be brought up to WHO standards through the installation of purification chlorinators. The bulk of the work will take place in the municipalities of Durres, Fier, Lezhe and Saranda, areas experiencing the most acute shortages, where wells, reservoirs, central pumping stations and transmission mains will be repaired and reconstructed. Once completed, some 1.3 million people in 11 cities will have access to a safe, consistent supply of drinking water, considerably improving the health status of the population.