The Government of Guy-ana has signed a US$2.4M loan with the Caricom Development Fund (CDF) which will be used in the agri sector to upgrade roads and agricultural lands.
According to a Govern-ment Information Agency (GINA) report, the loan, the agreement of which was signed on Wednesday by the Minister of Finance Winston Jordan and new CDF Chief Executive Officer Rodinald Soomer, follows a US$9.1M in funding already granted to Guyana in July, 2013, under the same fund.
Under this current loan agreement, 12 kilometres (km) of asphaltic concrete roads will be constructed, 13 km of all-weather roads upgraded and two reinforced concrete bridges built with an expected August, 2016 completion date. The areas benefitting are: Onverwagt, Region Five; Parika and Ruby, Region Three; and Laluni, Region Four.
It is expected, the projects will benefit approximately 9,500 farming households and 35,000 residents in rural Guyana, alleviating the problems of inaccessibility to the agricultural backlands, which often resulted from damage caused by adverse weather and heavy-duty machinery, the release said.
Further, Jordan said the project will cause new lands to be cultivated, resulting in “new activities in those areas and obviously rapid growth in agricultural output and production and incomes to households.”
The CDF is a Carioca initiative which provides technical assistance to disadvantaged countries, regions and sectors in Caricom to enhance their prospects for successful competition, and to redress any negative impact of the establishment of the Caricom Single Market and Economy (CSME).
Currently, Guyana has automatically qualified for further support under the fund as it has already paid its full assessed contribution to the fund, Soomer said, while adding that the country’s achievements to date have been impressive since it had completed all works within budget and on schedule.
