Kiribati receives funding for coastal project
Updated
The European Commission has endorsed a Contribution Agreement between the Government of Kiribati and the Pacific Islands Applied Geoscience Commission or SOPAC.
The fund of around $US3.18 million would be used to facilitate the development of an environmentally sustainable aggregate supply company in South Tarawa, Kiribati.
This initiative is designed to ease pressure on the island's fragile shores and beaches which are presently used as the main sources of aggregates for building and development.
SOPAC found that local beach miners are now removing more than 70,000 cubic meters of sand and gravel from South Tarawa's beaches every year.
The project will develop environmentally safe sources of aggregate including dredging aggregates from the lagoon bed.
The project will be implemented over the next three years by SOPAC in conjunction with the Government of Kiribati.
