ISLAMABAD - Japan has decided to extend grant assistance of 683 million Yen (approx. US$ 8.6 million) to Pakistan for upgrading of mechanical system of Wasa Faisalabad.
The official Notes for the grant assistance were duly signed and exchanged on Monday at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Statistics between Mr. Hiroshi Oe, Ambassador of Japan to Pakistan and Javed Iqbal, Secretary, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Statistics.
This Grant would be utilized for the Upgradation of Mechanical System for Sewerage & Drainage, Faisalabad. This project would help in climate change and environmental improvement and it would strengthen the capacity of city administration to avoid damages and after effects of monsoon season.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Hiroshi Oe, Ambassador of Japan to Pakistan said that after the completion of this project, he believes that the people of Faisalabad would enjoy a cleaner urban environment with better sanitation and health conditions and that lowering the level of flood and shortening the flood period would reduce risks on people’s lives, ease traffic conditions and save business activities.
He also mentioned that Pakistan and Japan are sharing very friendly relations as embodied in today’s signing ceremony and showed his assurance that this bond of friendship would become even strong in the future.
The residents of Faisalabad have been suffering from frequent flood, caused by insufficient capacity of sewerage and drainage system brought by urbanization and population growth. Through this project, pumps and machineries will be provided in order to improve the capacity of drainage and cleaning up drainage system in Faisalabad.
At the same time, Grant Agreement has also been signed by Takatoshi Nishikata, Chief Representative, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and Kazim Niaz, Joint Secretary (Japan), Economic Affairs Division. This Grant is mutually beneficial for both the countries and will strengthen Pak-Japan friendship and economic cooperation.