Ulaanbaatar
Initial MoU signed on building 10,000-family apartment for ger-area residents
PoliticsUlaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ Memorandum of Understanding was inked Monday on preliminary scope and financial and institutional managements for the UB city and ADB’s joint project on building apartments suitable to payment capacities of ger area residents and on Ulaanbaatar city renovation.
The document was signed by the Mayor of Ulaanbaatar E.Bat-Uul, Minister of Finance B.Bolor and the Country-Director for Mongolia of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Robert Schoellhammer. The ADB has been implementing urban development projects in Ulaanbaatar, mainly targeted at ger-areas’ re-structuring and funded from the Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction.
In frames of the intended project, apartment buildings for 10,000 families will be constructed along with the re-structuring of 130 ha of ger (national dwelling) districts. Ger-area residents are in need of improving their living conditions, sufficient access to heating, tap water and power, and of good economic services. Thus, 75 percent of ger-area residents are willing to move from their gers to modern apartments, a study shows.
The preliminary cost of the project is estimated to be around 500 million US dollars, to be settled from ADB loan and international assistance.
The UB Mayor thanked the ADB for supporting the frameworks for improving living conditions and increasing the household incomes of the ger-area residents through urban services and ger-areas development investment program. Ulaanbaatar is to switch from a single-centered city to a city with nine sub-centers. The ADB is involved in the Bayankhoshuu and Selbe sub-centers’ developments.
Feasibility study for the 10,000 apartment project is planned to be complete by the end of September of 2016. Expected date of commencement is the first quarter of 2017.
