NADI, FIJI (4 May 2019) — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will provide a $2 million grant to prepare the Nadi Flood Alleviation Project. The ADB technical assistance (TA) was confirmed during the 52nd Annual Meeting of ADB’s Board of Governors in Nadi, Fiji.
The grant comes from the Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction, a financing facility provided by the Government of Japan.
“ADB is pleased to partner with the Government of Fiji to help protect Nadi from increasingly regular flood events,” said the Regional Director of ADB’s Pacific Subregional Office in Fiji Mr. Masayuki Tachiiri. “This partnership recognizes the economic importance of Nadi as a vital hub for logistics and tourism for Fiji, and the wider Pacific subregion.”
The ADB assistance will identify an economically optimal flood alleviation investment that reduces economic and social losses and loss of life from floods in the Nadi area. It will consider future scenarios of population growth, changes in land-use, and climate change. The TA will promote nature-based approaches and options to introduce adaptability to climate change outcomes to improve resilience.
“Fiji has experienced more than one flood annually for the last 40 years with particularly devastating floods in 2004, 2009, 2012, and two events in 2014,” said Permanent Secretary for Economy Ms. Makereta Konrote. “Urgent action is needed now on adaptation and building resilience, and we are pleased to partner with ADB to advance project development.”
The January 2009 flood, which devastated large areas of Fiji, claimed 11 lives, left 12,000 people homeless and caused F$113 million ($53 million) of damage. The Nadi area was the worst hit, with total damage estimated at F$81.2 million.
Building resilience and reducing economic volatility, including through investing in climate change and disaster-resilient infrastructure assets, is on the strategic objectives of ADB’s Country Partnership Strategy for Fiji for 2019–2023, which was approved by ADB’s Board of Directors in April 2019.
ADB’s Pacific Developing Member Countries (PDMCs) are among the most exposed nations, globally, to these risks. ADB is supporting its PDMCs to increase resilience to climate change and natural disasters by financing climate-proof infrastructure, helping countries plan for and respond to extreme weather, and leveraging global climate resources for mitigation and adaptation efforts.
ADB incorporates climate-resilient infrastructure design and risk management considerations into its investments across the Pacific.
ADB is committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific, while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty. In 2018, it made commitments of new loans and grants amounting to $21.6 billion. Established in 1966, it is owned by 68 members—49 from the region.
