The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has agreed to provide USD 10 million in grants to the Maldives government to increase disaster preparedness.
JICA, which is funded by the Japanese government, agreed to provide 1.56 billion Japanese yen (USD 10.5 million) in grants to the Maldives government. The signing ceremony was held at the Ministry of Finance and Planning.
JICA Maldives Office Resident Representative Taki Motoo and Deputy Minister of Finance Hassan Miras signed the agreement.
According to JICA, the objective of the project for Disaster Resilience Enhancement in Male' "is to reduce damage from waves and heavy rain through improvement of seawall and provision of equipment for stormwater drainage."
Japan is one of the largest contributors to the Maldives' development efforts, especially in disaster resilience. These include the 1988 to 2006 seawall project in Male'.
JICA's Taki Motoo said the projects have helped mitigate the damage caused by the December 2004 tsunami disaster.
