By Xinhua
Washington : The World Bank has approved a $12.94 million loan for the Philippines to help build electricity transmission infrastructure in its southern Bicol region, which was damaged by two super typhoons in 2006.
The emergency support would finance most of the electricity transmission infrastructure that the National Transmission Corporation (Transco) needed to build in the region after Typhoon Reming devastated the area in November 2006, a statement released by the World Bank said Thursday.
The typhoon killed over 700 people, brought down power lines and buried villages in mud, it said.
The economic cost of damage from the two super typhoons, Reming and Milenyo that hit the country in 2006, is estimated at over $250 million, excluding revenue losses to Transco and the electricity cooperatives.
“The project reflects the World Bank’s ability to quickly respond to natural and man-made disasters,” said Bert Hofman, World Bank Philippines country director.
“The assistance to Bicol is important not only because the region is in the direct path of annual storms, but it is also one of the poorest areas in the Philippines,” he added.
The loan will be used to fund the ongoing replacement of 118 transmission towers in Bicol. It is part of a larger $21.6 million project jointly financed by the Philippine government and the World Bank to provide Transco with 11 additional Emergency Restoration Structures.
It will also establish an investment programme that will strengthen the power system against future typhoon damage, and remove infrastructure constraints to the region’s economic development.