Above: work on Prince Charles Drive in Nassau last year (FP)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

The Bahamas will be receiving a supplemental loan of as much as $65 million for its large-scale road network project in New Providence following approval by the Inter-American Development Bank.

The financing will be used to complete civil works in the road network, according to the IDB, which has approved $205 million in financing for the programme since 2001.

The project is 90 percent completed; the fund said additional financing was needed because of an “increase in the cost of imported inputs and unforeseen changes in the scope of the road construction works.”

The loan, which is for a 25-year term, has a two-year disbursement period and a 2.5-year grace period.

It is accompanied by local counterpart financing in the amount of $12 million.

The road works project impacts the road network in New Providence, where 70 percent of the Bahamas’ population lives.

Approximately 85 percent of New Providence’s workforce uses private cars to commute to work.