Cook Islands has been handed $2 million in an effort to support tourism and related health infrastructure.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has signed off the grant from the Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction, financed by the Government of Japan.

ADB in a statement said, together with $500,000 of in-kind contribution from the government of Cook Islands, the grant will fund the Supporting Safe Recovery of Travel and Tourism Project, which aims to improve the Rarotonga International Airport and related health services.

The project will extend the Rarotonga Airport terminal building to improve Covid-19 screening and physical distancing, upgrade a health facility to provide hospital-like services, and install a medical waste treatment system.

“Tourism is critical to the Cook Islands economy, amounting to more than 60 per cent of its pre-pandemic gross domestic product,” said ADB senior economics officer and project lead Lily Homasi.

“This funding will allow the government of the Cook Islands to upgrade airport and health facilities, ensuring that reopening of borders will be safe for both travellers and Cook Islanders.

“Tourism revival will allow the country to recover sustainably from the downturn caused by Covid-19.”

The existing structure of the Rarotonga Airport terminal requires additional upgrades to incorporate updated international Covid-19 safety measures.

The project will fund an extension to the airport terminal to allow sufficient space between incoming passengers and waiting areas for vulnerable groups.

The Cook Islands health system has limited capacity to isolate and treat Covid-19 patients, the statement from ADB said.

Through the project, a health care facility in Rarotonga will be refurbished to function round the clock, and provide services such as triage, specialised primary health care, emergency services, maternal and reproductive health, and counselling—including for gender-based violence and mental health cases.

“The only medical waste incinerator in the country will struggle to safely dispose of the increased volume of protection, testing, and treatment waste the Covid-safe return of visitors will generate. The project will install a waste treatment system to complement the incinerator and manage the additional waste in an environmentally friendly manner.”

The project complements efforts by the governments of the Cook Islands and New Zealand in ensuring over 96 per cent of the adult population is fully vaccinated against Covid-19, making the nation one of the most highly vaccinated countries in the world. It also complements New Zealand’s support to improve screening, testing, contact tracing, and isolation processes in the Cook Islands.