Caribbean Development Bank approves $120 mn in project lending

Last Updated on Tuesday, 16 December 2014, 22:24 by GxMedia

San Juan, Dec 15 (EFE).- The Caribbean Development Bank has approved more than $120 million in loans to fund dozens of projects related to agriculture, energy and infrastructure.

Trinidad and Tobago is to receive $40 million “to support Trinidad’s conversion of the fuel usage of vehicles in the transport sector from diesel and gasoline to Compressed Natural Gas,” the CDB said.

The CDB also approved $35 million in loans to the government of Jamaica to facilitate reforms regarding fiscal consolidation, growth and competitiveness, and social protection.

The government of St. Lucia will receive $19.68 million for the upgrading of a municipal water system in order to bring potable water to more than 19,000 residents. The project will cost an estimated $24 million in all, according to the CDB.

Grenada is to receive $10.7 million to improve solid waste management in the island, as well as a grant of $300,000 to finance the institutional strengthening of the Grenada Solid Waste Management Authority.

The CDB approved a grant of $1.2 million to fund research in several countries on the viability of developing a cassava industry.

“The Project, which will be executed by FAO (the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization) and has an estimated cost of $1.795 million, will be conducted in the Commonwealth of Dominica, Suriname and the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago,” the bank said.

The government of Guyana was approved for a loan of $7.5 million “to enhance the capacity of the Guyana Sugar Corporation Incorporated.”

Barbados received a loan of $6.4 million to enhance the country’s international competitiveness.

The Caribbean Development Bank is a regional financial institution established in 1970.

CDB members are Anguilla; Antigua and Barbuda; Barbados; Belize; the British Virgin Islands; the Cayman Islands; Dominica; Grenada; Guyana; Haiti; Jamaica; Montserrat; St. Kitts and Nevis; St. Lucia; St. Vincent and the Grenadines; Suriname; the Bahamas; Trinidad and Tobago; and the Turks and Caicos Islands.