St Vincent and the Grenadines Gets Loan For Road Upgrades
Above: St Vincent (CJ Photo)
By the Caribbean Journal staff
St Vincent and the Grenadines will soon receive a $9.05 million loan from the Caribbean Development Bank for upgrades to the country’s road network.
The funding will target two major arteries in the country, with the aim of making the Windward and Vigie highways “more resilient to natural disasters,” according to the bank.
“The loan will fund restoration of critical infrastructure at high risk of failure along both highways, including slope and embankment stabilisation, bridge repairs and construction,” the CDB said in a statement. “The upgrade programme also includes construction and rehabilitation of river defences along the Yarabaqua and Caratal rivers, and rehabilitation of sections of the feeder road network.”
The bank said it was providing technical assistance for landslide risk assessment and slope stabilization aspects of the project, along with a design study for selected sections of the highway.
The programme comes after the Christmas trough of 2013 decimated the country with 270 mm of rain causing significant flooding.
The CDB also approved a grant of $221,000 to cover the cost of equipment for rainfall and stream flow measurement.
