United States to provide $81 million for construction of Stage 1 of Kurram Tangi Dam Project

Islamabad, December 14, 2016 (PPI-OT):The United States signed an agreement to provide over 8.5 billion rupees to the Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) for the construction of the Kaitu Weir project in North Waziristan Agency of FATA. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and WAPDA signed the agreement at a ceremony held in Islamabad. American Ambassador to Pakistan David Hale attended the ceremony.

“America and Pakistan have a long history of cooperation in the energy sector,” Ambassador Hale said in his remarks. “The agreement signed today builds on decades of shared effort to meet Pakistan’s energy needs and help improve the lives of millions of Pakistanis.”

The Kaitu Weir is Stage 1 of the larger Kurram Tangi Dam Project (KTDP). By completing the construction of KTDP-Stage 1, more than 16,000 acres of agricultural land will be irrigated and an additional 18 megawatts of electricity will be produced, enough to benefit 100,000 Pakistanis. Under KTDP-Stage 1, funds will be transferred to WAPDA to support the construction of a weir on Kaitu River, the Shertalla and Spairaga canals, two powerhouses, a transmission line, housing accommodations for construction and operational staff, and an office building for dam construction and operation activities.

Since 2009, the United States Government has invested more than 53.1 billion rupees to develop Pakistan’s power sector, benefitting more than 28 million Pakistanis and adding more than 2,400 megawatts of electricity to the national grid. This total includes 1,013 megawatts from new or rehabilitated dams and thermal power plants, and 1,447 megawatts from improvements in the transmission and distribution system.

For more information on U.S. assistance to Pakistan’s energy sector, please visit: https://www.usaid.gov/pakistan/energy

For more information, contact:
Spokesman
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U.S. Embassy, Islamabad- Pakistan
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