The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has granted an additional loan of US$76.2 million to finance the project underway to create a safer national road network in Timor Leste (East Timor), the bank said in a statement.

The finance contract was signed earlier this month by the Timor Leste Minister of Finance, Santina Viegas Cardoso and the resident director of the ADB, Shane Rosenthal.

Initial funding for this project exceeded US$54 million, according to the Asian Development Bank, and this additional funding will make improvements on 97 kilometres of national roads.

Timor Leste’s road network includes 1,400 kilometres of national roads, 860 kilometres of secondary roads and about 3,000 kilometers of tertiary or rural roads. It is estimated that over 70 percent of the roads are in poor condition. (macauhub/TL)