JAKARTA, June 26 (Xinhua) -- The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a new loan of 297.75 million U.S. dollars for rehabilitation and reconstruction of public and transport infrastructure in Indonesia's Central Sulawesi province devastated by an earthquake and ensuing tsunami last year, the ADB said on Wednesday.

The new loan augmented ADB's previous 500-million-U.S. dollar emergency assistance loan for Lombok and Central Sulawesi approved in November last year to support Indonesia government's immediate and short-term recovery efforts that include provision of temporary shelters, schools and livelihood facilities.

"ADB remains committed to helping the people of Central Sulawesi get back on their feet after the disaster," ADB Urban Development and Water Division for Southeast Asia Director Vijay Padmanabhan said in a statement.

"The loans will help the government to implement its master plan for rehabilitation and recovery projects," he added.

The new loan would be used to finance projects to reconstruct and upgrade water supply and irrigation systems in the affected areas, and enhance the airport and seaport facilities so as to spur economic development in the province.

A 7.4-magnitude earthquake and ensuing tsunami killed over 2,000 people, injured 4,430 and displaced some 200,000 residents in October last year. More than 1,300 ones were missing in the devastating disaster.

The losses from the disasters reached 1.7 billion U.S. dollars, including damages of houses, clean water installations and irrigation systems, roads, bridges, airport, and ports infrastructure, according to the Indonesian government.