Climate-Proof Roads and Bridges in Solomon Islands

Australian Funds Help Climate-Proof Roads and Bridges in Solomon Islands

Honiara, Solomon Islands, 4 July, 2011 — The Solomon Islands Government, and the Asian Development Bank (ADB), participated in a signing ceremony today for a grant from Australia worth $A4 million to help restore vital transport links destroyed by the 2010 floods in central Solomon Islands. The Minister of Finance, Gordon Darcy Lilo and Robert Wihtol, the Director General of ADB’s Pacific Department, signed the grant on behalf of the Government of Solomon Islands and ADB respectively. The signing was witnessed by the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID), the European Union (EU), and the New Zealand Aid Programme.

The additional financing was provided by the Australian Government to the Second Road Improvement Project (SIRIP 2). This project, approved by ADB in November 2009 and co-financed as grants by the ADB, the Australian, New Zealand, and Solomon Islands governments, and the EU, aims to replace or upgrade about 30 water crossings and build about 20 km of road. ADB administers all the grant funds.

The additional financing will also fund climate proofing of transport links, to make them better able to withstand extreme weather in the future.

Climate change means such events are likely to become more frequent and the Pacific region, including the Solomon Islands, is particularly vulnerable. Flooding has hit the country regularly in recent years but the Solomon Islands suffered a series of severe floods in early 2010 which damaged roads and bridges in west Guadalcanal and north Malaita, disrupting transport services and cutting off communities from clinics, markets, and schools. Coastal sections of north Malaita road are vulnerable to closure from storms.

The 2010 floods imposed additional costs on the project and a subsequent climate adaptation study showed there was an urgent need to further climate-proof the infrastructure. The total cost of the project is now estimated at $28.64 million.

“Strengthening infrastructure against climate change is critical to ensuring rural communities easily have easy access to their workplaces, farms, schools, and other essential services,” said Robert Wihtol, Director General of ADB’s Pacific Department. “In the long term, reliable transport links support economic development.”

The additional funds will help finance the repair of the Poha Bridge to connect the communities of west Guadalcanal to Honiara and ensure the west Guadalcanal and north Malaita roads are able to withstand extreme weather in the future.

This climate proofing includes watercourse crossings able to withstand higher-level floods and allow the passage of river debris, strengthened bridges to prevent collapse when floods erode embankments, stronger protection on road approaches, sealed roads and raised road surfaces, especially in areas where the water table is high.

The funds will also support collaboration with the government’s Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Disaster Management and local communities to improve land use management upstream.

ADB, based in Manila, is dedicated to reducing poverty in Asia and the Pacific through inclusive economic growth, environmentally sustainable growth and regional integration. Established in 1966, it is owned by 67 members - 48 from the region. In 2010, ADB approvals, including co-financing, totaled $17.51 billion. In addition, ADB's ongoing Trade Finance Program supported $2.8 billion in trade.

ENDS

© Scoop Media