The Inter-American Development Bank today announced the approval of a $47.6 million loan to Saneamento de Goiás S/A to improve and expand the drinking water system and enhance wastewater disposal in the city of Goiânia and in contiguous urban areas.
A goal of the project will be to provide year-round, 24-hour drinking supply service to 90 percent of the users in Goiânia by the end of 2007.
As part of the program, sewage treatment will also be expanded and improved, reducing pollution in the rivers draining the service area and setting the framework for further expansion of the potable water system. The sewerage system also will be expanded by 19,481 users.
More than 64 percent of the beneficiaries of the project are in low-income groups. The project will contribute to the worldwide campaign to halve the number of people without access to safe drinking water by 2015 - one of the Millennium goals of the United Nation.
To increase service reliability, an impoundment dam will be built on the João Leite River. A new, 11,827-meter conveyance system will transport water to the Jaime Câmara treatment plant.
The plant, pumping stations and storage tanks for treated water will be upgraded, and critical sections of the city’s distribution network will be rehabilitated or replaced to allow the system to handle the additional flow generated from construction of the dam.
Saneamento de Goiás*, a company owned by the state of Goiás, will increase its efficiency by adopting a new, modern management model with the participation of a private sector operator. The new structure will enable the company to increase its investments, modernize its facilities and become permanently competitive while at the same time applying environmental protection policies and procedures.
The state of Goiás is located in Brazil´s Center-West region. It has 4 percent of Brazil’s total land surface and a population of 4 million.
The program reflects all four elements in the IDB’s strategy for Brazil of promoting competitiveness, reforming the state, reducing poverty and protecting the environment.
The total cost of the program is $95.2 million. The IDB loan is for a 25-year term, with a 5-year grace period, at the variable interest rate, now 6.19 percent. Local counterpart funds total $46.7 million.
Since 1960 the IDB has provided $2.27 billion in loans and grants to support the development of the water and sanitation sector in Brazil.