ISLAMABAD - Asian Development Bank (ADB) will provide US $ 300 million under multi-financing facility (MFF) to improve quality, continuity and coverage of urban services in the second tier-cities of Sindh province. According to an agreement, signed by the government of Pakistan, Sindh government and the ADB here on Friday, the bank will give the said amount to Pakistan for the improvement of basic needs in the urban cities of Sindh. Under this programme, over the next 10-years, the multi-financing facility will finance for improving basic urban services (water supply, sanitation, drainage and solid waste management) for nearly 4 million people of 20 towns in Sindh. Farrukh Qayuum, Secretary Economic Affairs Development and Rune Stroem, Country Director, PRM, ADB, signed loan for 1st multi-tranche amounting to $ 38 million. Sindh's second-tier cities (Khairpur, Sukkur, Shikarpur, Larkana, Nawab Shah, Mirpurkhas, Thatta, Badin and other cities) are under increasing stress of population growth and continuing urban poverty. Around 55 per cent of urban population in Sindh, excluding that of Karachi, has access to the piped water, but the water quality is extremely poor which flows intermittently. As far as garbage collection is concerned, only 37 per cent of the population has the facility of garbage collection system and there is extreme dearth of sanitary landfills and the collected waste is disposed of either by burning or dumping into open spaces or the drainage channels illegally. The government of Sindh has resolved to improve quality, continuity and coverage of urban services in the second-tier cities of the province on sustained basis as it feels compelled to explore alternatives sources for financing, including private sector, for improving infrastructure. Agencies add: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is to provide a loan of $1.5 billion to Pakistan for the infrastructure development, a bank official said Friday. "The ADB plans to approve $1.5 billion for Pakistan's various projects during the ongoing calendar year 2009 against disbursement of $1.87 billion in 2008," ADB Country Director, Rune Stroem told reporters in Islamabad. He was addressing a Press conference after signing an agreement with Pakistan's Secretary of the Economic Affairs Division, Farrakh Qayyum for the provision of $300-million loan to improve water and sanitation services in six cities in Sindh. More such agreements amounting to around $1.2 billion are to be signed in the coming months. "This programme is aimed at bringing improvement in water, sanitation and solid waste management," Qayyum said. "The investment will help the provincial government of Sindh cope with mounting challenges in providing basic urban services to an estimated four million residents over the next several years," Stroem said.