Above: Montserrat Premier Reuben Meade and EU Ambassador Valeriano Diaz (Photo: GIS)

Montserrat Premier Reuben Meade has signed a new agreement to receive 10th European Development Funds earmarked to support the government’s development goals.

Meade signed the agreement on behalf of the government, joined by Ambassador Valeriano Diaz, head of the EU’s delegation to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean.

The agreement means a total of $19.9 million will be disbursed to the island for the 2011-2014 period.

According to Meade, a portion of the funds will be used on the development of the new Little Bay port project. If no contract to begin work at that project is signed by June 2013, Montserrat will lose the amount allocated for the project.

“The port development project is a major one for Montserrat, and cannot be funded by one single funding agency,” Meade said Tuesday. The grant support will limit the amount of funds we need to borrow to complete the project.”

In the last 10 years, the European Union has granted just under $30.8 million in funding to Montserrat. That money has gone toward projects including the Montserrat Community College and the island’s tourism programme, among others.