Above: Albina, Suriname, on the border with French Guiana

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Suriname will be receiving a $40 million loan to improve the country’s Meerzorg-Albina integration corridor, following approval by the Inter-American Development Bank.

The road connects Suriname’s capital, Paramaribo, with the eastern border with French Guiana.

The project seeks to reduce travel time from four hours to 2.5 hours between Paramaribo and the border city of Albina, along with a reduction in traffic accidents and road fatalities.

It will widen the corridor from six metres to 7.2 metres, the internationally-accepted standard.

“The corridor accounts for nearly 10 percent of the national primary network and concentrates almost 25 percent of the country’s traffic flow, so its rehabilitation is likely to have a huge positive impact on the country’s economy,” said IDB project team leader Colin Forsythe.
The IDB loan comes in addition to a $62.5 million loan approved in 2008. That loan was joined by resources from a European Union grant and a loan from the French Development Agency.
The new loan is for a 25-year term. Suriname’s government is providing an additional $13.8 million in counterpart funds.